


It's Been A Long Time

by RavenReyes0G



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: BAMF Clarke Griffin, Bellamy Blake Has Feelings, Bellarke, Bittersweet Ending, Character Death, F/M, I need to fix it, Madi is Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin's Child, Past Character Death, The 100 (TV) Season 5 rewrite, The Bunker was hell, blodreina, cause it was not good, sad/happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-06-23 14:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 37,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenReyes0G/pseuds/RavenReyes0G
Summary: It's been 2,199 days since Praimfaya. The 100, those that are left, are separated. Octavia, now called Blodreina, resides over the bunker with an iron fist. Clarke is all alone with Madi, the only other nightblood left, in Eden- the only survivable land left over by the death wave. Bellamy (and Spacekru) remained locked in the sky, trying to find a way down to the ground. When a mysterious crew from hundreds of years ago arrives in the Earth's orbit, are they the only chance Spacekru has to get home? Will Bellamy finally hear one of Clarke's calls? Will they get everyone out of the bunker in time? Can every one reconcile their differences in time, and most importantly, can everyone survive in Eden?A rewrite of The 100 Season 5Note: This work can also be found on Wattpad (under the same username)





	1. Status: Alive

3 days since Praimfaya

On the Ground:

Her head hurt. Her arms hurt. Her stomach hurt. Her throat hurt. Everything hurt. But in this case, pain was good. Pain meant that she could feel something, it meant that she was alive. With shaking, blistered, hands, Clarke Griffin pulled herself to her feet. Flecks of black blood and spit colored the floor.

"At least I'm alive." she thought, and felt an overwhelming wave of relief crash over her.

Praimfaya had taken its toll on her, hard. The Lab had been breached, but not as much as it could've been, as she had closed the door with milliseconds to spare. For three days she had fought back against the urge to give in. Too exhausted to move, all she could do was lay on the cold floor of ALIE's lab, and try not to die. Clarke could not last any longer, though, and she knew it. She had to find food and water, fast. Earth was not an option, and she knew it. The planet was covered in a heavy haze of radiation, which would've killed every possible food source and contaminated the water. Despite having Nightblood, Clarke wasn't in the mood to get sick again. The mansion and lighthouse bunker were possible sources of food and water, assuming they hadn't been destroyed in Praimfaya, but she didn't have the energy to walk there now. Stumbling around the lab she pulled open every drawer she could find, releasing a cry of pain with each one, as the handles dug into her blistered hands. Finally, she found something. A drawer of protein bars and two small flasks of water.

"But why would someone leave these here?"

Then it dawned on her. "Raven," She breathed.

"Raven had been planning on staying behind and ending her life in Praimfaya. Someone must have left them so she wouldn't starve. In Raven's rush to prepare the rocket, she must have forgotten they were here. The rocket! They took off. I remember! They made it back into the sky! They're alive!"

The thoughts careened into each other until one rooted itself in the middle of her brain, refusing to let go.

"But did they?" It was a terrible thought, but one she could not escape.

"Did they survive? Or was I not fast enough and they all died? What if that happened?! What if Raven, Murphy, Emori, Monty, Harper, Echo, and...Bellamy. What if he died, too? All because of me!"

The thoughts turned her glee into despair in seconds.

"Stop," Clarke commanded herself. "Stop. They survived,"

Her voice sounded raspy and raw. She needed food and water. Now. Slowly, with barely controlled shaking hands, she unscrewed a flask of water and took a small sip. The cool liquid slid its way down her raw throat, soothing it immediately. She took two more sips and put it aside, turning to the protein bars, devouring one in seconds. She gently propped herself against the work table, letting the back of her head rest on its cool legs.

"I lived," She thought, "Now I just have to survive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short and a bit bland- just testing the waters. Tell me if you like it!
> 
> A small note: Instead of POV's, I'm just going to tell it in 3rd person while noting if it is: On the Ground, On the Ark, or, In the Bunker. Yup- Wonkru coming up! I don't know how much of each, but I'll try to keep them even. Of course, things are going to get interesting when the Eligius Prisoners come down. *hehehe* Oh well, we'll see when we get there.


	2. A Heavy Loss

1 day since Praimfaya

On the Ark: 

Bellamy stared out of the window, The once green planet was now covered in musty oranges, yellows, and greens. Radiation. He sighed and rested his head on the cool glass, trying not to remember her. Clarke. Who saved them and he, in turn, left her down there to die alone. At least he could've stayed with her, died with her. "No," He thought to himself. "I had to leave her behind. I had no choice. She wanted us to live, they had to live...we had to live." But no matter the number of times he repeated the justification, it could not quell the aching sadness in his stomach and the feeling of betrayal in his heart. No. He shook his head to rid it of the repeating thought. He could not let emotions rule him anymore, that's what she had told him. He must use his head and his heart, he owed her that much, at least.

"Hey," A quiet voice said behind him. Monty. 

Bellamy turned around to face him. "Hey Monty, is everything alright?" 

Monty nodded. "Yes. Raven called a meeting in the mess hall. I think she wants to figure out a plan." 

He smiled and nodded. "Sounds like Raven. Let's go." 

"Wait," Monty pressed his hand on his chest, stopping him. "Are you alright?" 

He nodded, but found he could not speak. 

"I miss her too," Monty said, "We all do. It feels..." he paused, "Wrong. Terribly, suffocatingly, wrong. I'm so...so sorry." he choked. 

With a shock, Bellamy realized that Monty was crying. He put his hand on Monty's shoulder, an unexpected act of comfort. He felt tears well in his own eyes, but forced them back. There was no time for tears, they had work to do.

"Let's go. Raven won't like it if we're late."

Walking back into the mess hall, Bellamy was overcome with a wave of powerful nostalgia. It looked exactly the same, except for it only being filled with seven people and not 2,659. He shook away the flood of memories and gazed at the people who filled the room. There was Harper, looking tired, but better, with disappearing radiation burns, Monty stood beside her, hands clasped, he too looked tired but fine. Murphy was standing, a hint of his sarcastic swagger was back, but his eyes were those of a man who had seen many things. He stood beside Emori, who looked fine, only a little out of place, holding his hand tightly. Raven, on the other hand, looked exhausted. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and her usual look of calm was interrupted by a hurried expression and two dark bags under her eyes. She looked like she hadn't slept in a week, which was probably true. Echo, though, looked worse than all of them. She stuck out like a sore thumb with her Azgeda warrior paint and guarded expression. She could clearly tell how out of place she was because her hand rested on her hip, as if searching for a sword that was no longer there. 

"Okay," Raven called everyone to attention. "Guess what guys? We survived." 

Her voice, though hollow, still had some of her signature Raven Reyes cockiness. It was good to hear, and the mood in the room immediately brightened, if only a bit.

"So now we have to make sure we keep surviving. I don't know about you, but I didn't haul all of your sorry butts up here to die in the first week. Especially..." Raven choked.

Bellamy knew this was coming, and looked down. 

"Especially because...because..." Raven could not finish. 

With a start, he realized she was crying. Raven Reyes? Crying? It was almost unheard of. It struck him then, how much Clarke's death has affected them all.

"Because we lost Clarke." he said, quietly, looking up.

Everyone found somewhere to look other than his face. 

"We lost her, and it's hard. I still have trouble believing it, but she's...she's gone." 

The words were hard to form on his lips. 

"She sacrificed herself for us. We owe it to her to survive. Right?"

After a moment of heavy silence, Raven composed herself and nodded.

"Yes. Now, I plan on surviving, and that plan needs a plan. We aren't on the ground anymore, so you all know what you are good at up here. Except you two," 

She said nodding to Emori and Echo, 

"But that's okay, you'll learn fast enough. Now," She looked at everyone. "It's going to take a lot of work to get this junkyard back and running, so I'm going to need all the help I can get. Okay." 

There was a chorus of nodding heads.

"Alright then, Monty, I need you and Harper to go try and start up the algae farm. Figure out the problems, try and fix them, if you can't find me. Murphy, Emori, and Echo, I need you to scout around the Ring. Go in every room, we need to see what we have to work with. Bellamy, you're with me. We have to get the electrical system running without fail, and fix the damn coms while we're at it." 

All heads nodded in agreement.

"Okay then." Raven gave them an approving look, "Let's go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo, whaddya think? A bit longer than chapter one, though hopefully not boring (*fingers crossed*). I figured Raven needed her signature cockiness back (and it's here to stay...hopefully). I'm curious to see how everything worked out up there? Wonkru coming next, if you haven't guessed. Don't worry though, I'm going for limited flashbacks, so this part should be over in the next couple chapters. 
> 
> -RavenReyes0G


	3. Beneath the Floor

The day of Praimfaya  
In the Bunker:

Octavia placed the radio on the table with a heavy sigh. "May we meet again," she said, speaking only to the air. She prayed for her brother's voice to crackle out of the radio one last time but she was greeted with silence. Octavia put her head in her hands and sighed. Beyond the thin metal door stood 1,200 people awaiting her command. Where to go, where to eat, where to sleep, what jobs to do. They looked at her like she knew what was going on all because she won a stupid battle. Not even. She'd be long dead if it weren't for Illian and Roan. "How am I going to do this?" she thought, a sinking feeling of despair cementing itself in the pit of her stomach. She discovered a new found respect for Bellamy and Clarke, leading was not always as straightforward as she had once thought. She hoped they had made it, they needed each other, that much she knew. Her heart ached to think of her brother, but she had to put feelings aside. Raven would get them all into space, she had to. All of the sudden, the metal door swung open and Indra stepped inside, expressionless.

"It is time," Her face was that of a warriors but her voice had an underlying layer of tenderness. "I know you're tired, but we have to focus on the chosen now. Twelve hundred people are awaiting your orders. When to eat, where to sleep, how to live. The unrest will turn to violence, I have seen it before. You need to lead them."

Octavia looked down at the table, thinking back to what Bellamy said, hating the feeling of helplessness overcoming her in a wave. 

"That's what my brother said." She stood up and walked over to face her mentor. The woman who taught her to become what she became, the best warrior, disciplined and strong. Still, the concept of leading almost entirely eluded her. 

"Indra, I'm not a commander." 

Indra looked up, something flashing behind her eyes. Resolution, maybe. 

"The time of the commanders is past," She looked her in the eyes, a mentor passing along her last knowledge. "The time of the flame is past. This is your time." 

Octavia looked down, almost unwilling to accept the inevitable truth. 

"Let me help you." She held out something in the palm of her hand, and with a start, Octavia realized it was the commander's emblem. The very one Lexa had worn. "Commanders help me," She thought.

Octavia pushed the thin metal door open wide. She was greeted with the low chattering of 1,200 people. "Lead, Octavia," She thought, her stomach churning. "Be the warrior and the leader." The commander's mantle grew heavy on her shoulders.

The room grew silent with the realization of her presence. "This is it." Her voice was low, but there was no need to shout, the room was heavy with the silence of relief and grief. "We are all that remains of the human race." She paused, suddenly knowing what to say, the truth. "I'm not going to lie to you, the next five years won't be easy. There will be days where we wish we were out there right now. But I promise you, if we stand together, if we are Wonkru, then Kom folau, oso na gyon op." 

The chant spread throughout the room, "Kom folau, oso na gyon op. Kom folau, oso na gyon op. Kom folau, oso na gyon op."

Then Praimfaya rolled in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, this was basically a recap of what we saw in Praimfaya. Buuuttt, I felt like I needed this so here it is. I'll probably be fast forwarding a bit in the next few chapters. I really want to get to Madi! And reunions. Definitely those. Tell me what you thought/predictions for Wonkru! 
> 
> -RavenReyes0G


	4. The Lone Survivor

On the Ground- Day 13

Clarke looked up into the hazy yellow sky. The world was an open wound barely able to keep from gushing, it would be a long time until it righted itself and she knew it, but she had to try. She gripped the radio in one hand, the satellite dish in the other, the rover sitting useless behind her. She had salvaged Monty's beat up, broken, rover from a ditch. Miraculously it survived, though it would be a long time before she could get it running again. But the rover came as a beacon of light in the dark times, among blankets, first aid kits, and two guns, it contained the satellite dish and radio. "Here goes nothing," She thought. Clarke aimed the satellite dish at the sulfur yellow sky and slowly clicked down on the radio.

"Hey Bellamy...if you're alive, it's me, Clarke. Guess what? I survived Praimfaya. I guess you were right after all, Nightblood really works. Heh, who knew?"

She paused for a moment, contemplating what to say next. Words couldn't begin to describe how she felt for him. Much more than friends, something she had barely felt with Finn, and something that invited painful longing with Lexa. God, Lexa, she missed her. Her death had become something she forced herself to accept. But now, Bellamy. She had to believe he was alive. She found that her heart was so fragile it might shatter any moment. The knowledge of Bellamy's death would kill her. She was grasping onto hope, the string she'd always lent her people, but now Bellamy supplied.

"I miss you...a lot. I miss everyone. But...it's been especially hard without you. I know that you may never get this. I know that you might...that you might...be gone,"

The words were hard for her to choke out. She swallowed and continued.

"But I won't believe that, I can't. You'll find a way to survive, we always have. Remember to think with your head and heart. And...just...survive. Please. I guess that's it for now. I'll radio again tomorrow, but..."

She struggled for the right words, but they dried in her throat. In the very pits of her stomach and her heart something began to clech. It tightened and left her gasping for breath. Grief, pain, loss, longing, hurt. It all bundled up in her rib cage, pulsing, threatening to get out. It was too much. The tears came hot and fast to the corners of her eyes. They poured and poured like waterfalls, never ending rivers of hot, liquid glass. Something wretched from the bundle of emotions wrapped up inside her. And into the vast empty world, full of only molecules and her, Clarke screamed. The ragged, guttural projection bounced off every broken, rubbled, disintegrated object within the expanse of the world, all the way back to her. It reverberated in the silence, a hollow sound that, if possible, seemed to humanize the world just a bit. It softened only so, as if to say, "I know. You have fought hard for so long. It's okay to be honest with yourself for a little while." It felt odd to cry for so long, and she realized with a heavy heart, that it felt even worse without Bellamy here.

When her heart was emptied, the tears dried to her cheeks, and finally felt the drowsiness that comes when you cry, she picked up the radio once again. Through a choked throat and a wet veil of eyelashes she clicked down and spoke one more time.

"I'm counting down the days, Bellamy, everyone. 1812 days until I see you again. Don't give up on me, I haven't on you." She paused, unsure of how to conclude, and then,

"May we meet again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short but I really wanted to put in Clarke's first radio call to Bellamy. Please comment and tell me some small things you want to see for Spacekru and Wonkru! I could use it!
> 
> -RavenReyes0G


	5. Remembrance

In Space- 2 years and 4 days since Praimfaya

Bellamy gazed down at the light sulfur earth with a heavy heart and misty shine in his eyes, somewhere below him lay the dusty reamnents of thousands of people who all fell victim to Praimfaya. But, one very important someone. 

"Clarke."

Her name was expelled with a breathless whisper aimed at the glass. He put his head against it and sighed, a single rivulet wound its way down his cheek. 

"Missing someone?" A woman's voice behind him asks. Raven.

"Hey, Raven, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just thinking. About the ground." 

"Me too..."

She pauses for a moment, as if considering what to say next, and Bellamy can feel the same heavy sadness she's feeling. 

"You know...Finn, Sinclair, Wick, Clarke...everyone. I can't even remember what it feels like to not be scared we're going to die."

"I know... I've been thinking a lot about our time on the ground. I'd never have thought it possible for ten months to turn me into a completely different person."

"Yeah." Raven laughs, recalling years gone by. "Last I checked, my first introduction to you was when you stole my radio." 

"Right..." "And killed 1,500 people while I was at it." He thought, guilt weighing heavy on his conscience. 

"Bellamy..." Raven trailed off, recognizing the cloud of guilt in his eyes. "Their deaths were not your fault." 

"You didn't seem to think so at the time."

"No, I didn't." She paused again, as if trying to word it delicately, but resigning to let her usual brutal honesty kick in. 

" I blamed you for their deaths, I blamed Clarke for Finn's, I blamed ALIE for Sinclair's, but all along a lot of it was me. I didn't think to protect the radio, I didn't understand Clarke's sacrifice, without me, ALIE would never have been able to rise the way she did. "

"Raven..."

"Save it, Bellamy. You're not the only one dealing with guilt."

She looks him in the eye, fierce and unwavering. 

"So far you haven't drunk yourself into a stupor and you've managed to keep yourself from falling apart, most of which is due to your hope being pinned on Octavia." 

She pauses, as if to catch her breath or maybe her thoughts. 

"Which is actually pretty smart considering she's got the best chance of surviving, but..." 

He looked at her with new eyes. She'd changed a lot since they first landed on the ground. Not physically, though she looked aged, her hair greyer, her eyes filled with a knowing sadness. But she is not the reckless girl who came down in search of her boyfriend, or the broken one when ALIE took over her mind. Instead she is a warrior, forged from the toughest battles life threw at her. 

"Thanks, Raven."

She nods, with a small smile playing at her lips. 

"You know, I had my doubts about trapping seven people in a tin can for five years but so far it's been okay. Aside from the Murphy/Emori drama." 

Bellamy lets out a long, drawn out, sigh. 

"Do. Not. Remind me. I couldn't sleep for days with all their fighting. The tension in the mess hall was thicker than concrete."

Raven laughed, a relaxed breathy sound. 

"Yeah... At least they got back together... That could've been annoying."

She pauses for a moment, pressing her head against the glass and smiling.

"You know, I never considered myself a gossip, but here I am. Gossiping with Bellamy Blake. That is a first."

"Har. Har." 

He looks at her, and feels something inside him heal a little. 

"Thank you, Raven."

"You already said that."

"I know, I just mean," He gestured around with his hands, "For all of this. For getting us up here, for keeping us alive, for not losing your head, for being a damn good person to come to for advice. For leading, all of it."

She looked out at the smoldering earth below. 

"I'll never be Clarke."

The fragility in her voice surprised him, but he understood, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

"None of us ever will be."

She gives a brief smile and presses her forehead to the glass. 

"But, you've got to admit, I am pretty awesome."

"Aaaand, there is the Raven Reyes I've been looking for."

She laughs, and the sound echoes down the empty hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know this is pretty slow in the beginning, but I really missed all the emotional fall out from Clarke's death. I also decided to change the way they did things in the bunker for next chapter so look for that! Thank you all for reading/commenting- it really makes my day!


	6. Riots and Responses

In the bunker- 2 years, 5 months, and 11 days since Praimfaya

Octavia sighed, placing her head in her hands and rubbing at her temples. It had been a long day, the unrest was growing steadily, and despite calm reassurances from Kane that all would be well, rumors of riots were rampaging the halls. 

"What the hell am I supposed to do? " She thought with a disbelieving shake of her head. "I can't lead! I'm a warrior not a diplomat!" 

With an aluminum creak the metal door leading to her "office" swung open, as Kane, Indra, Abby, Jaha, Miller, and Gaia stepped in. She looked up, glancing around at their worried faces and sighed, "That bad, huh." 

Everyone but Indra and Kane found somewhere else to look besides her face, and the room was filled with a deafening silence. 

"This is what it's come to," Octavia thought, bitterly, "The end is near." 

At last, Kane spoke. 

"The rumors of riots may no longer be rumors. Miller," He nodded to Miller who was standing in the corner looking down, "And some other guards have seen large gatherings of people in different sections. Farming, Factory, Mecha," He rattled off some others but Octavia tuned him out. 

"There is very little we can do now." Kane concluded, dolefully. 

"Marcus!" Abby exclaimed, shocked, "The casualties are going to be enormous if we just let this play out!" 

"But what are we to do?" interjected Jaha, incredulous, "Abby, we can't just go around killing our own people! That's not what Jake would've wanted!"

The room froze as Abby pivoted on her heels to face him. Her expression was one of immeasurable anger and sorrow.

"Don't you dare tell me what Jake would've wanted!" 

Jaha put up his hands and was about to respond when Indra spoke. 

"I have seen this before, and we will see it again, the only way to meet violence is with violence!"

The room erupted into thunderous objections.

"No! We can't just-"

"It's the only w-"

"Think about what you are going to-"

"These people know no bound-"

"Are you insulting the ground-"

"We are Wonkru, we do not fight against our-" 

"Tell that to the rioters!"

"Well, I wou-"

"ENOUGH!" Octavia shouted, slamming her fists on the metal desk so the vibrations echoed around the room. Her surroundings dropped dead silent. She stood to look at array of expressions that met her eyes, her gaze finally landing on Gaia and Miller.

"Gaia, Miller, you two have been awfully quiet, what do you think?"

Her question was greeted with astounded looks from the adults, but she kept her gaze on the two firm. 

After hesitating a minute, Gaia spoke first, "As much as I hate to admit this, my mother is right. This wave of violence needs to be met with equal oppression. We cannot peace talk our way out." 

Octavia nodded and turned to face Miller, "What about you?" 

Slowly, he nodded, "I agree with Gaia. These people, they're looking for a fight and won't stop until they get one. They want revenge on the people who took away their loved ones and will stop at nothing to get it."

Slowly, the population of the room resigned, coming to a unified agreement.

"You took this bunker by force, you must keep it that way." Indra said, coming to stand beside her. 

"Okay then." She spoke quietly, but there was no need to shout, as the room had elapsed into a heavy silence. 

Just then, Taziana burst into the room. She was a small grounder girl, around ten or eleven, with dark skin, black hair, and deep, coffee brown, eyes. Despite her small physic, she could hold her own in a fight. Taziana had become Octavia's eyes and ears outside of the group, and she had begun to train her in combat as her second. Oftentimes working with Taziana was the only thing that kept her sane as she was, once again, trapped beneath the floor. 

"Tazi...?" She trailed off as the girl grabbed the door frame, gasping for breath.

"Rioters...are...coming...bloodshed...has...started..." She gasped.

Suddenly, the pounding of hundreds of angry feet echoed down the hall. 

"They're here," Octavia said, her voice calm but determined. Just as she made her way to the door, swords in hand, Kane's voice spoke from behind her.

"Are you sure of this, Octavia?" 

She turned slowly, the weight of the commander's mantle pressing firmly down on her shoulders, almost comforting her. Eyes blazing, she inclined her head. 

"It is the only way." 

She motioned to Taziana and she drew her swords. 

"Are you ready?" 

Taziana nodded, "Let's go," she grinned through a devious smile. 

\---

Pushing open the door, Octavia stood on the balcony to face the gathering of hundreds of people who stood beneath her. 

"Skiaripa," A voice sounded from below, Clayton Munoz. He had lost his twin brother and older sister to Praimfaya and had only made it onto the list because of his knowledge of hydroponic farms. Suffice to say, he was not supportive of the new leadership. 

"You caused thousands of deaths, even your own people's. But they will be avenged! Your Wonkru is no more! So go and stand there like a coward while you send your own people off to fight each other or come down here and prove that you are the warrior you claim to be."

She gazed at the party with a steely cold expression. There were hundreds of them and only 20 guards, not including Miller, Indra, Gaia, Taziana, and herself. Still, Octavia knew she would win. She knew that in a few minutes, everyone beneath her would wind up dead. And, she knew it was unpreventable. 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked to the hoard below. 

"You deserve to die after what you did. Clarke Griffin already got her share!" 

With that, Octavia felt Abby stiffen at her side. Clarke is the only hope that she'd been holding onto these past years, hearing again and again that her only daughter is presumed dead is slowly chipping away at her thin hope. Abby's expression at the comment sparks a fire inside of her. Even though Octavia and Clarke didn't always get along, Clarke had a hard job, with only Bellamy to share the burden. She was the one that everyone blamed when things went wrong, and she didn't deserve that. She certainly didn't deserve to die in Praimfaya. 

"Bellamy doesn't deserve to lose her, either," Octavia thought, sadly, remembering what it was like to lose Lincoln, her only true love. Still, she remained calm, once again putting on the mask of a composed leader. 

"I will only give you one more chance, are you sure you want to throw your lives away?" 

"We aren't the ones who are going to die today, that honor is reserved for you. Submit now, and your death might be quick, unlike the suffering of those cast into Praimfaya." 

"There will be no such action," Kane declares, coming to stand beside Octavia. 

"Have it your way," Clayton replied, before turning to the rest of the group and shouting, "Time for justice!" as hundreds of pained and angry people charged forward.

\---

Kane began to shout commands as everyone lept into action.

"Do not kill, only wound!" Kane roared above the chaos. Taziana and Gaia stood back to back battling every person who came close, making sure to knock them out with the but of their swords or slice at their legs. The guard came down the stairs, shooting at limbs, trying to wound as many people as possible. Indra and Octavia fought side by side, slashing and stabbing left and right. Within a few minutes, every oppressor that had not retreated, was lying on the floor moaning in pain. She stood up slowly, blood dripping from her sword. She turned around just in time to hear Tazi shout,

"Octavia, look out!" 

She spun around, disarming Clayton Munoz of his gun before he could even move his finger onto the trigger. Bending his arm behind his back, she leaned down and whispered in his ear, 

"Believe me now?"

His only response was a moan of pain. Stabbing his leg with her sword, Octavia dropped him to the floor as he cried out in pain. Turning to Kane, she spoke in a low, quiet, voice.

"Call a bunker wide meeting. Now. There are some new rules in place."

Turning to Abby, she looked her right in the eyes, "Can you and Jackson patch these people up quickly. Everyone needs to be present tonight." Abby nodded with pressed lips. 

With a steely cold glint in her eye, Octavia grabbed Clayton's arm and yanked him to his feet, ignoring the moan of pain that escaped his lips. 

"You are coming with me," She hissed, dragging him to her office. Turning to face the others, 

"Do not follow. Mr. Munoz and I have something to discuss."

Once she closed the door, Octavia motioned for him to sit down. He complied, dragging his stabbed leg behind him. 

"What do you want with me?" He asked, through gritted teeth. 

"Simple, you are going to help me exhibit some new rules that are now in place,"

"And why would I do that?"

"Oh, you don't have a choice. In fact, you're the first person who's going to experience these rules first hand."

"And what would those be?" He challenged, and Octavia almost smiled. He had no idea what was instore for the meeting. No one did.

\----

Ten minutes later, the bunker stood in rapt attention as she stepped out from her office, dragging Clayton along with her. Standing on the platform where she had first claimed the position of Heda nearly two and a half years ago, Octavia faced Wonkru. 

"Today has brought an important matter to bear," She spoke clearly, but didn't shout, for there was no need. Her words echoed through the chamber and people drank them in, fearfully. 

"It seems that Wonkru is no longer unified. It seems that there have been uprisings challenging our leadership, and that those uprisings had their reasons. But," She spoke louder now, commanding the attention of everyone present. "You must remember, This. Is. Not. The. Ground. In reality, it is more like the Ark. For the remaining Skaikru, you know what I mean. For everyone else," She was slowly raising her voice to match the increasing waves of panic that rolled through the audience. "It means that disobedience, uprisings, They. Will. Not. Stand. For the five years we are trapped in here, there will be unity. We will be Wonkru. Whether you agree with the leadership or not." 

Her words were icy and she could tell that they all knew something big was coming.

"There are new rules in place starting tonight. Firstly, disagreements must be brought to your station supervisor," There was some grumbling amongst the crowd, "Secondly, suspicious behavior must be reported. Failure to do so will result in punishment." More and more people began to look at each other fearfully, "And lastly," Octavia paused, readying herself for the final step, "Mr. Munoz is going to help me exhibit the final rule," She grabbed his hair and dragged him to his feet. 

"Let it be known," She called, her voice echoing around the silent chamber, "That any uprisings, any restraint against our leadership or the people of Wonkru, will result in immediate, severe, punishment." 

With that, Octavia pulled out her sword, grabbed his arm, and sliced it off at the elbow. He fell to her feet with a scream of tortured pain. All around her, people gasped and screamed, as an aura of fear descended over the crowd. 

"You can all go back to your sections, now. Meeting adjourned."

Everyone began to file out in a tortured silence, no doubt there would be something to talk about tonight. Once the room was clear, she turned to Abby and Jackson, who were staring at her, along with Kane and Jaha. A look of horror was pasted to their faces. Only Gaia, Miller, Indra, and Taziana looked unmoved. 

"Patch him up. We need to be sure he survives." 

Without another word, Octavia, spun on her heels and walked up the stairs to her office, the commander's mantle swishing softly behind her. Once behind the privacy of a closed door, she fell to the floor, gazing at the blood on her sword with the expression of one who had lost all touch with humanity. 

"There is no turning back now," She spoke to the open air. 

For once, the world seemed to agree. Octavia Blake, was no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, what do ya think? I decided to change the way they did things in the bunker- and it will be elaborated on in later chapters. Hope you enjoyed!


	7. A Nightblood Named Madi

Hey!! There is going to be a lot of Trigedasleng in this chapter so I've translated the harder stuff for you all, but I left some of the easier bits alone. My real note is at the bottom of the page, this is just a heads up. Enjoy!

***

On the ground- 2 months 3 weeks and 4 days since Praimfaya

Clarke breathed in the sweet smell of greenery, her eyes glued open in amazement, beneath her lay a viridescent valley covered in everything from flowers to trees. After weeks of perilous struggle and near death experiences trekking through the desert, Clarke Griffin wanted to cry in relief. Quickly, she slid down the steep mountain side, desperate to touch the beauty that awaited her. 

"Oh, Bellamy," She thought, a mix between happy and sad, "Looks like I'll make it after all."

As soon as her feet hit dirt, she dropped her pack and ran faster than she'd ever thought possible, almost tripping and face planting herself in the plants. With shallow breaths, she dragged her fingertips over the long grass and violets almost collapsing in joy, while drinking in her surroundings. With a jolt, she realized something else, 

"With all the greenery, was it possible that others survived the Death Wave, too?" She slashed that hope as quickly as it popped into her head. There was no sense in hoping, everyone had died. Hoping was a one way ticket to suicide, she'd have to learn how to cope by herself for five years.

"At least I've got the radio and Bellamy," She thought sadly, a painful longing wrapping around her. All she wanted was him to be here with her, her head and his heart, working side by side forever. Maybe if he were here she could tell him the one thing she'd regretted never telling him. With no way of knowing if he'd ever come back to her... She shook her head to rid herself of the thought.

"I've got to set up camp," She thought, tearing herself out of her head. 

Clarke made her way back to her backpack, picked it up, and set off for the condensed greenery in the middle of the valley. The grass was long, but pleasant, as it brushed up against her knees, slightly tickling. Within twenty minutes she was there, and as she mounted a small slope, what met her eyes caused her to intake a sharp breath. The remains of a grounder village lay in the wide dip beneath the slope. Chairs, old huts, and broken glass littered the ground as well as what looked like the remnants of a few disintegrated bones. With a gasp, she realized what happened. The Death Wave had jumped over the valley, but the radiation in the air was enough to kill the inhabitants. 

"Which," she thought sadly, "Means that I am still alone." 

All the sudden a small voice spoke from the trees above, 

"Ste back, intruder! Chon yu bilaik?" (Stay back, intruder! Who are you?)

Clarke gasped and looked up. What greeted her was the small, somewhat sickly, face of a young girl, maybe only five or six. Almost immediately she dropped her pack and gun, holstered to her side, as her mothering instincts took over. 

"Ai mean yu no harm. Ai name ste Klark Griffin gon Skaikru. Chit ste your name?" (I mean you know harm. I am Clarke Griffin of the Sky People. What is your name?) she called in Trigedasleng to the girl above. 

"Skaikru!" The girls face took on a fearful look, and Clarke mentally slapped herself. Of course no one liked Skaikru. They were the bringers of death, as they were once called. 

Backtracking a bit, she spoke again, "The Skaikru laik no mo. Where laik your kru? Laik yu alone?" (The Sky People are no more. Where are your people? Are you alone?)

The girl gazed at her with cautious eyes, "Ai laik Madi gon Yujledakru ba emo laik gone nau, only ai ste," (I am Madi of the Broadleaf people, but they are gone now, only I remain.)

Clarke felt something stirr inside of her. This poor girl. She had lost her family, her friends, her whole clan. She had to survive by herself for 42 days! 

"Will yu come down kom der so osir may speak face kom face?" (Will you come down from there so we may speak face to face?) 

She saw the hesitation in the girl's eyes. She was so scared to trust her. Clarke smiled warmly, never breaking eye contact. 

"Ai promise ai won't hurt yu, see," She lifted open her tattered jacket, "No guns,"

"No guns?" The girl questioned. Clarke nodded and the girl finally giving in, scurried down the tree in a matter of seconds. 

When she was before her, Clarke knelt down so that they were at the same height. 

"How did yu survive, Madi?" She questioned.

"Ai lak a Natblida," She spoke proudly, through two missing front teeth. 

Clarke sat back on her heels, amazed. Here before her was the last living (true born) Nightblood in the world. All the others had been killed in Polis, so why wasn't she one of the fallen? Then it struck her, she was too young. She must've still been training when Praimfaya struck, Lexa had said that they train them young. 

"How old laik yu?" She asked, Madi, to confirm her suspicion. 

"Ai just turned sis!" She exclaimed, proudly

Clarke laughed, "Sis, wow! Such a biga gada!"

Madi grinned, her bright green eyes shining with the compliment. Suddenly, Clarke knew she couldn't let this girl go. Whether she liked it or not, the two were bonded. But such a fiery spirit needed to agree on it first, or she would be impossible to contain.

"Hei, Madi! Ai don an idea gon yu." 

"Chit ste em?!" (What is it?!) she asked, leaping to her feet, no longer cautious of this stranger before her. 

"Chit taim yu en ai live teina? Would yu like bilaik?" (What if you and I live together? Would you like that?) 

"Okay!" She grinned through a huge smile. 

\---

8 hours later

In the eight hours since their meeting, Clarke and Madi had put together a ramshackled house made of all the extra materials strewn throughout the village and were thoroughly exhausted. They dined on a meal of plant roots, berries, and water from a nearby stream Madi had discovered earlier, and were settling in beside the fire, as it was warmer than their makeshift house. All of the sudden, Clarke heard a small sniff and looked up to see tears winding their way down Madi's round face. In a heartbeat, she was there beside her. 

"Chit's wrong, strik won?" (What's wrong, little one?) 

"Ai parents. En ai strik bro. Ai see em everytime ai close ai eyes. Screaming, always screaming. En.. Ai miss em so much" (My parents. And my little brother. I see them everytime I close my eyes. Screaming, always screaming. And.. I miss them so much)

Clarke's heart melted as she gently rocked the little girl in her arms. 

"Shh, shh, em's okay. Em's okay," 

Once her tears had subsided into small hiccups, Madi looked back up at Clarke through two swollen eyes. 

"Will yu tel me a story?"

Clarke smiled and nodded, 

"Gon course, Madi," She patted her lap, and Madi climbed on, resting her small head against Clarke's shoulder. 

"Once gon a time, kru lived in a castle in the skai. Em was nou their real houm, as emo had been forced out gon bilaik won long ago, ba em was good. Emo lived happily, taim won day emo discovered bilaik their beloved castle was dying. In order kom save the kru in the castle, emo sent 100 foto children down kom the graun kom see taim emo could return houm. Well, 101, counting the won chon snuck ona. Most importantly, a gada chon chased butterflies en rose a gona, a happy boy chon was broken by loss en moonshine, which em made kom his genius best friend, a gada chon always wore her hair in a beautiful side braid, a cockroach, a gada chon always kicked butt, even when em was forced kom face monsters, a hot headed, loving, leader gon a boy, en a broken gada. Anyways, the foto children got kom the graun en discovered bilaik em was, indeed, survivable, ba hogeda was nou as em seemed. Emo soon discovered bilaik emo were nou alone, en bilaik their gonplei was only just beginning. Ba emo had no won kom lead em, so the hot headed boy en broken gada stepped forwards."

(Once upon a time, people lived in a castle in the sky. It was not their real home, as they had been forced out of that one long ago, but it was good. They lived happily, until one day they discovered that their beloved castle was dying. In order to save the people in the castle, they sent 100 bad children down to the ground to see if they could return home. Well, 101, counting the one who snuck on. Most importantly, a girl who chased butterflies and rose a warrior, a happy boy who was broken by loss and moonshine, which he made with his genius best friend, a girl who always wore her hair in a beautiful side braid, a cockroach, a girl who always kicked butt, even when she was forced to face monsters, a hot headed, loving, leader of a boy, and a broken girl. Anyways, the bad children got to the ground and discovered that it was, indeed, survivable, but all was not as it seemed. They soon discovered that they were not alone, and that their fight was only just beginning. But they had no one to lead them, so the hot headed boy and broken girl stepped forwards.)

"Ooh, did emo like each other?" Madi giggled, sleepily.

Clarke smiled, "Nou quite, ai strik natblida." (Not quite, my little nightblood) 

"Anyways, the tu didn't like each other gon first, emo fought odon everything en couldn't figure out how kom share the lead. Em thought em was insufferable, em thought em was hogeda high en mighty. Eventually, emo settled ona co-leaders en soon became best friends, gon emo saw half gon em inside the other. Emo were the head en the tombom. Tragedy came en went, even pas the parents came down kom the castle kom live kom the kids. Both the broken gada en not-so-hot headed boy had lost nearly en emo loved. Lovers, family members, friends. Ba, even though emo fought, emo always had each other. when em had kom make terrible choices, em was beside her, comforting her en sharing the burden. Whatever emo braved, emo braved em teina. Taim a day came, when a terrible monster came en ripped en emo loved apart. Em trapped her mom ona the floor kom his sis, en tossed the boy (and their friends) back kom the castle en leaving the gada ona the graun. Em hurt the broken gada nou kom be kom em, kom em, ba em called em every sheidgeda. Even though em knew em couldn't hear, em called em anyways. Talking kom em, even taim em wasn't directly, calmed her, giving her something kom look forward kom each sheidgeda. Em gave her a reason kom survive. Ba...taim der was won thing em regretted nou saying kom em when em was ste kom her, em was..."

(Anyways, the two didn't like each other at first, they fought over everything and couldn't figure out how to share the lead. She thought he was insufferable, he thought she was all high and mighty. Eventually, they settled into co-leaders and soon became best friends, for they saw half of them inside the other. They were the head and the heart. Tragedy came and went, even after the parents came down from the castle to live with the kids. Both the broken girl and not-so-hot headed boy had lost nearly everyone they loved. Lovers, family members, friends. But, even though they fought, they always had each other. When she had to make terrible choices, he was beside her, comforting her and sharing the burden. Whatever they braved, they braved it together. Until a day came, when a terrible monster came and ripped everyone they loved apart. It trapped her mom under the floor with his sister, and tossed the boy (and their friends) back to the castle, leaving the girl on the ground. It hurt the broken girl not to be with them, with him, but she called him every night. Even though she knew he couldn't hear, she called him anyways. Talking to him, even if it wasn't directly, calmed her, giving her something to look forward to each night. It gave her a reason to survive. But...if there was one thing she regretted not saying to him when he was still with her, it was...)

Clarke trailed off a tears pricked the corners of her eyes. 

"Chit was em, Klark?" (What was it, Clarke?) Madi asked, almost asleep.

Choking back as sob, she shakilly continued her story, spitting out the last words she'd always wished to say to him,

"It was, ai hod yu in. Gon em did, em truly loved em kom hogeda her tombom. Ba even den, even nau, em knew bilaik someday em'd come back kom her en em promised herself bilaik when em did, em would hear her say emo words kom em. The End."

(It was, I love you. Because she did, she truly loved him with all her heart. But even then, even now, she knew that someday he'd come back to her and she promised herself that when he did, he would hear her say those words to him. The End.)

She spoke quietly now, and gently slid sleeping Madi off her lap and onto her bedroll. Kissing her forehead she whispered,

"Goodnight, ai strik Natblida," (Goodnight, my little Nightblood)

Clarke walked over to her pack, and opened it quietly, taking out the small, hand-held, radio and satellite. She walked over to the edge of the dip, where she'd first met Madi, and placed the satellite down, aiming it towards the sky. Clicking down on the radio, she spoke softly.

"Hey Bellamy, it's me. I wasn't sure if I'd even make it out of that god forsaken desert but I did, and here I am. I'm not sure if you ever read any of that Bibley stuff, but this is like Eden. My Eden...just without you. I should probably mention the best thing that has happened to me in a long time, I've found another survivor! Her name's Madi and she's a 6 year old Nightblood, and as far as I know, she's the only other survivor. I've met her only a few hours ago but I love her already. She's lost so much, Bell...I just can't imagine..." 

It took her a few minutes to pull herself back together. When she did, and finally spoke again, her voice came out somewhere between broken and wistful. 

"I told her our story...not just The 100's, but ours too. God, just telling it makes me miss you so much. I want your smile back, your hand on my shoulder, your arms around me. Because..." Clarke paused as all of the pent up emotion suddenly released in her chest, "Because, god dammit I love you Bellamy Blake! I love you with everything in me, and I regret every day that never told you before. So..." 

She trailed off a moment, lost in thought. 

"Please come home to me, Bellamy. Come home. I can't cope if you don't... I love you, Bell, and I need you."

With that, Clarke Griffin put her head in her hands and sobbed in sync with the man whom she loved and who loved her. Separated by thousands of miles, but determined to be together, their hearts beat as one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I mentioned this already, but some of this fan fic was written before Season 5 aired and I just decided to keep it that way cause I liked it (and I was too lazy to rewrite it). Hope you liked Clarke's bedtime story, and thanks for reading!


	8. A Dangerous Plan

(Note: I'm making Ethan the same age as Tazi 16/17 for this fic)

The Bunker: 5 years and 3 weeks after Praimfaya

The Bunker was absolute hell, in every sense of the word. The arena reeked of blood and rust, the mess hall was dented and scarred from every "disagreement" imaginable, and many bunks were permanently empty. Blood stained many a wall and an aura of fear, suspicion, and militarism hung over Wonkru like an impending storm.

That storm's name was Bloodriena. 

No longer Octavia Blake, the girl under the floor, the woman that emerged from the dark years of the past was unlike any terror anyone had ever seen before. So cruel and ruthless she made the coldest Azgedian leader look like Mother Teresa, all touch with humanity lost, save for the young grounder she took under her wing all those years ago. And that very girl, Taziana or Tazi (as she was commonly known) was terrified of the monster and tyrant Octavia Blake had become. Breathless and gasping, Taziana sprinted to the door of Bloodriena's closest advisor, Indra.

"Indra!" she gasped, as she flung open the door, not bothering to knock.

"Tazi?" replied Indra, her voice grave with suspicion, "What is it?"

"It's Octavia!" she exclaimed, and Indra rushed to close the door.

No one EVER called Bloodriena by her former name. Ever. It was a crime punishable by death (by fighting) for everyone, even the people some might once have thought she loved.

"What has she done now?"

"Along with cutting the meals back to one every three days, she is drafting people to fight, anyone! This is the Dark Year all over again!" 

"You're joking," Indra spoke, in a voice that conveyed absolutely no amusement whatsoever. 

"I wish... Indra," she said softly, "You've always been like a second mother or cool aunt to me," The last comment earned a chuckle from Indra, "So I wanted to ask you, as someone who has known Octavia probably the best, is she ever going to come back?"

Indra looked at her sadly, knowing all too well what the question was really asking. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Tazi hesitated, "I love Octavia, maybe more than anyone else in the world,"

"Even Ethan?" Indra teased, trying to bring a smile to the girl's worried face.

Tazi blushed crimson, but continued,

"Yes, well, it's different...but...oh, nevermind!" she stammered. 

Indra laughed, the first real laugh she'd had in a while, a single ray of sunlight amidst a dark backdrop. 

"My point is, I'm really worried about her. I know she loves me...at least, I think I do, but I'm afraid for the path, well, the path that Gaia is leading her down." Taziana cringed, not wanting to offend her, but needing not to censor the truth.

As if she had gained twenty years in the span of the sentence, Indra sighed and sat down on the bed. 

"As am I, Tazi...I love my daughter as much as I love Octavia, or even you for that matter, but I am afraid that they are going down a dark path they will not be able to come back from."

Tazi hung her head, "So you see it too...god, I was hoping you could talk me out of it, tell me I'm crazy or whatever."

"I'm sorry, Tazi." She spoke with sincerity, but it only served to make Tazi feel worse. 

Hanging her head, she sighed, "So what do we do?" 

It was a desperate question with no good answer. 

"I don't know...I...I don't know." 

"Well we have to do something! I-I don't care if Octavia loves me or not, she took me in all those years ago and I won't fail her now!" 

Slamming her fists down on Indra's desk, years of unshed tears started to pool in her eyes and spill down her cheeks in rivers. Suddenly, an unexpected show of affection caught Taziana off guard, Indra's strong arms were wrapped around her, her hand stroking her hair. 

"I love her too, Tazi, and I will do anything in the world to make sure our Octavia comes back to us." 

Slowly, the sobs stopped and Tazi nodded. 

"Okay." 

All of the sudden, a plan came to mind faster than lightning, a plan that maybe, maybe, could just work.

"Indra!" She gasped, breaking free of the tight embrace.

"What is it?"

"I think I know how to fix this, but it isn't going to be easy. It's something I have to do by myself, and, hell, when I come out of the other side of this, I don't think that I'll...that I'll be me anymore." 

Indra took in a deep breath and looked at her with loving, kind, eyes. 

"What's the plan?" 

And for the next half hour, the two brave women talked through a plan to bring the woman they both loved back, maybe at the cost of their lives. 

Once they had finished, Indra looked her squarely in the eye and said, "You know who you have to talk to now, correct?" 

For a split second, confusion crossed Taziana's face before she realized who she was talking about.

"Ethan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is a bit bland, but the next two are going to build up Tazi as an important character to the story- and I really wanted to make Ethan not a kid and much more active in the story- if only by a little bit. Thanks for reading!


	9. Love and the Probability of Dying

Taziana's heart pounded in her ears as she "calmly" made her way to the training room

"Stay calm, Tazi. Act like nothing's wrong." She thought over and over in her head as she opened the thin metal door to where she would find her five year long best friend. 

Currently, everyone else would be in the mess hall eating their skimpy rations slowly, but he would've be in and out in three minutes, back to the only three things that had kept him sane in the five long years they had been trapped underground for; reading, writing, and sword fighting. 

As fast as lightning, as soon as Taziana opened the door, she bolted to the other end of the room, grabbed a sword off of the rack and proceeded to parry his oncoming strike. They were both well accustomed to a spontaneous sword fight (one of the only things "Bloodriena" allowed them to do without supervision- if you ended up hurting or killing your opponent [it happened] you'd be put into the arena which was incentive enough not to kill anyone) and neither were caught off guard when a flurry of expert moves confronted one another. After a few minutes of dancing back and forth, Tazi secured the upper hand, and swung her leg under his, sweeping him off of his feet so he landed with a groan on his back. She smiled and she pressed her sword to his chest. 

"I win, again." She said, standing up and stretching out her arm to help him up. He took it and she yanked him to his feet.

"Yeah, whatever, you just caught me at a bad time. I was tired, I'd been practicing for a while before you burst in."

"Yeah right. Someone's a sore loser." She laughed, but could feel the hollow emptiness of it as she remembered what she had come here to say.

As if he could recognize it too, Ethan frowned, "What is it, Tazi?" 

She sighed and looked down, knowing all too well the hard truth of what was about to come out of her mouth. 

"Hey," He said, gently, "You know you can tell me anything." 

Taking her sword out of her hands and placing it on the ground along with his, Ethan took her hands in his. 

"Tell me, Tazi." 

She looked him in the eye, begging him to understand,

"What I'm about to tell you is nothing you're going to want to hear."

"What is it?"

"To start, this is probably going to end in me dying." 

\---

An hour later, when the majority of people were making their way back to their assigned sleeping corridors, she had finished explaining everything and they both sat on the floor of the arena with tears streaking their faces. 

"So let me get this straight," Ethan choked, his voice raspy from the silent tears. 

"You and Indra are going to form a fake rebellion, blame it on you, just to get yourself thrown into the pit. And then you are going to try to make a deal with Bloodriena that if you win, she has to make you second in command, all to see if there is any of Octavia left?!" 

Taziana nodded sadly.

"You do realize that there are a million different ways that that plan can go wrong?!" 

"I know, Ethan." 

"But do you, Tazi?" His voice was an octave higher than normal and incredulous.

"First off, you could start a real rebellion, which you'd be in a whole deeper level of shit for, or she could catch wind of this beforehand and send you to the pit without you making the deal, or she could not take your deal and you'd be screwed because she'd never trust you again, or YOU COULD ACTUALLY DIE DOING ALL OF THOSE THINGS AND MORE, INCLUDING FIGHTING IN THE PIT WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE YEARS OLDER THAN YOU AND HAVE TWICE AS MUCH EXPERIENCE!!!!" 

He was shouting now, his voice breaking along with her heart. 

"And, god forbid, you actually make it through this horrific plan and she takes your deal, the Tazi that I know will be destroyed and replaced with a stranger, a-a murder! Hell, she could turn you into something far worse than a murder! We don't even know what she can do or will do!" 

It broke Taziana's heart to hear him talk about Octavia like she was a lost cause, even though a small, nagging, part of her brain wondered if it was true. 

"I know, but I have to try, I have to see if the Octavia I know and love is still there. And if I have to sacrifice myself, or at least the me people know, to help her shoulder the burden and not lose herself then that's fine by me!" The last sentence brought tears to her eyes. 

"But it's not fine by me!" Ethan shouted back, "You don't understand, Taziana!" 

She looked at him, a little shocked. He never used her full name. 

"It may be easy for you because it's you you are sacrificing, but I can't do it! I can't lose you too!" 

The final words hung in the air between them, unspeakable, yet spoken. 

He was on his knees, sobbing, the volume of which Tazi had not seen since the weeks following his dad's death in Praimfaya. She knelt down beside him, softly, and took his face in her hands, wiping away the tears as she spoke. 

"I'm scared, too. I don't want to lose you either. Which is why I need you to agree with me, to help me in knowing that this is the right choice. Because..." 

She was crying now too, years of suppressed emotion running down her cheeks in rivulets. 

"Because, to hell with "Love is weakness"! Love equals trust. I trust you, Ethan, and...and I love you."

For a moment, time stood still, both of them gazing into each other's eyes through the tears. 

Then, Ethan pulled her into a forceful hug and kissed her. 

The kiss was sweet and salty from tears. It was full of love, trust, hope, and longing. It said words never spoken aloud and captured moments deemed uncapturable by the rest of the world. It made Tazi wanted to stay in his arms with his lips on hers forever. He pulled back and looked her in her eyes, cheeks tinted just the tiniest bit red, 

"I love you too, Tazi." 

She smiled at him, her face breaking through the tears. 

"And I trust you. If you are serious, if you need to do this because of whatever superhuman- Octavia-reading ability you have,"

The last comment earned a weak chuckle from her. 

"Then I am with you and I support you. And whatever the outcome, know that I am here for you." 

He pulled her into another hug and she melted into his arms as if she was meant to be there. In his ear she whispered the truest words she'd ever spoken.

"Thank you, I love you, and I won't let you down."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, what do you think about Tazi's plan? Stupid and half baked? Or will it work? Hope you like Ethan/Tazi! Let me know your thoughts. Thank you so much for reading!


	10. A Dark Phoenix Rising

The "rebels" stood in rapt attention as Tazi and Indra stepped out to face them. It was a small group, only twenty or so, but it was full of the only people in the bunker that were trustworthy enough to take this on in secret. The guards "on duty" for capturing them were among the group as well as a few others who would make the scene more believable. Indra, of course, would be working from the inside to make sure no one was caught or punished. And then would come the finale, the inevitable bunker wide meeting where Taziana would confess to everything and subject herself to the pit in a far-fetched plea that Octavia would take her "deal". Yes, risky and terrifying as it was, the plan was set in motion.

Taziana stared out into the crowd, her gaze firm but her heart racing with worries. Could they really do this? Could they revolt against Blodriena? As soon as she thought this, Tazi caught herself, once again stealing her mind from nerves. Yes. They could do it. They had to.

Caught up in her own thoughts, Tazi didn't notice that Indra had stopped talking until the entire group was looking in rapt attention at her.

"Oh...sorry," She said, in a meek attempt to look like she had been paying attention.

Indra just rolled her eyes and spoke again,

"Taziana, any last words?"

"Oh...well," She thought for a moment, trying to fit all her gratitude into a few sentences (no one likes a leader who talks. For. Fricken. EVER. [No one])

"I just want to thank you all for taking this risk with me and I promise that whatever happens, you will be kept safe. Uhh..." She glanced at Ethan for a moment and he nodded encouragingly, 

"Masks on and let's go!"

With that, the group stormed into the halls preparing for mass chaos.

\---

Mass chaos does doesn't even begin to describe what met them as they rounded the nearest corner. Half of Wonkru guards stood in rapt attention, waiting patiently like a cheetah for its prey. As soon as they saw the small group, they pounced.

At once, the hallway erupted into a war zone, the sound of slashing and clanging swords ringing like show tunes. Taziana jumped into battle immediately, trying hard not to hurt anyone in the process, just knock them out. Still, they were engaging the best warriors in Wonkru history so blood began to spill. Everything seemed to be at a stand still, both groups fighting hard but neither gaining much, until a loud call erupted on top of the noise.

"IT'S BLODRIENA!" the warrior called and immediately the hallway erupted into more chaos that before. Indeed it was. Battle gear on, mantle on her shoulder, swords strapped to her waist, red paint adorning her forehead, the feared Blodriena had arrived. All of the sudden, some people were pushing to get away while others were turning to bow. Suddenly, Octavia put her hand up, calling for silence.

"Who is the leader of this crime against Wonkru?"

Slowly, mask on, Taziana stepped forwards.

"And who might you be?"

The hallway was drop dead silent. At last, she replied with words that, she knew, shocked Octavia Blake to her core.

"I think you know who I am, Blodriena."

Octavia's mouth didn't drop open but her eyes in the moment conveyed every form of surprise, anger, fear, and hurt, imaginable. Yet, it only lasted for a minute before the emotion was gone, replaced yet again with the cold, unmoved, eyes of Blodriena.

Throughout this, the only thing crossing Taziana's mind was, Well that was over quick. Still, she was grateful, the less people hurt the better.

Tazi raised her hand and upon seeing the signal, the "army" started to retreat, racing back down the hall from where they came. The guards tried to follow them but Octavia raised her hand.

"No, let them go."

The guards looked confused but nodded.

"Yes, Blodriena." They replied in unison.

"I will deal with this traitor myself."

"Yes, Blodriena."

Yanking off her mask and latching on to Tazi's arm with an iron grip, Octavia dragged her to her office.

"You've got a lot to explain."

Pressing her firmly down into one of the metal chairs, Octavia glared at her with such a ferocity that would make even the brightest flower wilt.

"What. The absolute hell. Was. That?!" Octavia strained through clenched teeth, but Tazi was silent.

"Let me try again; WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING, TAZIANA?!?!" She shouted, her voice shaking the room, but Tazi remained silent.

"Tazi, do you realize how serious this is? I'm going to have to throw you into the pit or else I will look weak. Something Wonkru cannot afford!"

Tazi was a little taken aback, watching Octavia dig her nails into the palm of her hand.

"I know, Octavia. That's why I came to you. With a deal."

"A DEAL?!" Octavia shrieked, "A deal?! What sort of deal, Tazi, because as far as I'm concerned, you should be down on you knees begging for forgiveness for what you did. You are in no place to make a 'deal'."

"I disagree, Octavia. I think you're going to want to hear what I have to say."

"And what the hell would that be?"

"That unless you agree to take me as your second in command, I won't fight in the pit. Or more like, I won't fight back."

Octavia looked shocked, the first time in a long time that she appeared to be caught off guard.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh I would, have no fear, I am more than willing to die if you don't agree." Truthfully, it was all bluff. She was terrified that Octavia wouldn't agree, and then what would she do? She didn't really feel the need to die.

Octavia put her head in her hands, seeming to age twenty years in the span of their conversation.

"What the hell do you want, Tazi?"

"I told you, make me your second in command."

"Yeah, but why? You've never seemed to want it before."

"Only because I knew you wouldn't agree. I did what I had to do."

"So staging a fake revolution against me was part of that?" 

"Um...yup."

Octavia looked down for a long time. When she finally spoke, the brokenness in her voice shocked Taziana speechless.

"So let me get this straight: either I agree to make you second in command if you win, or you go into the pit tomorrow with every intention of dying."

Swallowing the tears building in her throat, Tazi nodded. After a moment of unbearable silence, the two women looking each other in the eye, holding each other. On rooted to her spot, the other stuck in a chair. Finally, Octavia broke the silence.

"Fine," She spat. "Fine."

Tazi could almost see herself sinking in relief.

"Oh, but Tazi," Her voice was cold and hard.

"You better fight the fight of your life."

\---

Two hours later, Taziana lay on the cold hard bunks of the accused, when a guard burst through the door.

"Taziana, come with me."

Safe to say, she was a little more than shocked. No one was ever taken from the room before the fight, and it seemed like the other "criminals" knew that too because they started to shift in their bunks. As quickly as she could, Tazi scampered off of the bed and followed the guard into the hallway.

"Bloodriena has allowed you one visitor."

Tazi frowned, who was coming to see her? But, the moment the messy mop of dirty blond hair and nervous grey-blue eyes came into view, her heart melted.

"You have ten minutes." The guard said, with something that maybe, if she stretched her imagination, could be considered a smile. As soon as the door was shut, Ethan raced over to her and enveloped her in a hug.

"Jesus, Tazi. You had me freaking out."

She laughed weakly and sunk into the embrace a little more.

"When Octavia came storming out with that face on, I thought you were dead for sure. But you weren't. Did she take the deal?" He spoke the last sentence with a whisper, as if realizing how much trouble they could get in. Tazi nodded.

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank god."

"She did say..." Tazi trailed off remembering what Octavia had said to her right before she was dragged out of her office, "That I better fight the fight of my life, whatever that means."

Looking queasy, Ethan sank down onto the nearby bench,

"I think that it means you are going to have to fight like a demon and nothing less."

"Meaning?"

"You know how sometimes she makes victors fight again if they didn't go a good enough job?"

Tazi nodded.

"Well, I have a feeling she's going to be harder on you than anyone else."

The thought of having to kill more people than those in the arena tomorrow made Taziana's legs turn to lead and she sank down onto the bench beside him.

"Oh my god, Ethan. How am I supposed to kill all of those people?"

Her face suddenly took on sickly shade of pale and her hand rose to her mouth.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Ethan!" She choked.

"Shh, shhh..." He shushed her, rocking her back and forth, his arms suddenly around her.

"You'll be okay. You can do it."

"Can I?"

"Hey," he pushed her shoulders to face him.

"You, Taziana, are the bravest person I know with the purest heart. If you can't do it, no one can." 

Though part of her knew it was ridiculous, her heart rose a little bit along with the blush on her face. This only deepened when he leaned in and kissed her. It was sweet, hot, and breathtaking, all at once. His hands traveled to her messy, black ponytail and held onto it. Her arms encased him until it was half embrace half kiss. She pulled away, breathless, gazing into his brilliant grey-blue eyes.

"Thank you," she said after a moment.

"I believe in you, Tazi."

Suddenly the door opened and the guard returned,

"Time's up."

Tazi nodded with tears threatening her eyes and followed the guard to the door. Right before she made it to the door frame, she turned to face him one last time.

"I love you, Ethan."

He looked back at her with a odd expression on his face, something she couldn't quite place, but it looked to be a mixture of fear, love, and apprehension.

"I love you, too."

But as Tazi walked away, the image of Ethan's face stayed with her, and as she turned in a restless sleep she finally put a finger on his expression. He looked like someone who was saying goodbye to the person he loved for the last time.

\---

The pit reeked of blood and blood lust. Even in the small room adjacent to it, she could hear the rattling of the metal grate which separated the spectators from the fighters, as an entire bunker pounded against it. 

Tazi's heart thundered against her chest matching her steps as she anxiously paced back and forth, eyeing the five other criminals warily. There were three oldish grounders, Trikru, Podakru, and Delfikru, by the looks of their tattoos- (the Trikru's almost identical with the ones that circled her own arms), and a middle aged woman who appeared to be from Skaikru. However, the only opponent that gave her real reason to worry was a young man, maybe 19 or so, from Azgeda. His eyes scanned the room like a hawk and he had the stance of a seasoned warrior lightning quick on their feet. Even though all of that was pretty intimidating, that wasn't what scared her, it was the cold, unmoved, look in his eyes. He had the same expression a butcher preparing for the slaughter would, not caring if he cut them up into a million pieces or made their death agonizingly slow. He had the look of a serial killer and, she was guessing, the blood on his hands to prove it. 

"Hey," said the woman, coming up behind her to place a hand on her shoulder. She had graying tawny hair and kind green eyes that crinkled when she smiled. 

"You're going to be okay. Whatever happens." 

Taziana tried for a grim smile but she couldn't even muster a fake one. In truth, this woman's unexpected kindness was just one more thing that made all these people that much harder to kill. She ended up settling for a strained nod. Just then, a guard burst through the door. 

"It is time." 

Slowly, one by one, the six criminals entered the pit and faced the roaring crowds, Tazi, swallowing her nerves. She could feel Octavia's gaze burning down on her as she positioned herself closest the the rack of swords. Scouting out the terrain and her opponents, she began to think of possible weaknesses, for herself and for them. Her size might be a disadvantage in some respects, but she was strong and quick and could easily take out the older woman and the three oldish grounders, but the Azgedian warrior would pose a much bigger threat. The noise of the Wonkru prayer barely registered as she looked up into Indra's worried eyes, Octavia's stone cold ones, and Ethan's deathly scared ones. Suddenly, Tazi heard the end of the prayer and Gaia's sharp and commanding voice shouting out,

"Be the last!"

The pit exploded into a mass of movement. 

Tazi ran to the nearest sheath and slipped out a medium weighted blade, not a perfect fit, but it'd have to do. All eyes were on her, being the youngest and most well known, so she slipped along the perimeter, watching the Azgedian murder the kind woman with a quick slash to the throat. 

At least her death was quick, was the only consolation Tazi got as she desperately tried to stay out of the his gaze. Silently, like a ghost, she crept up behind the Podakru warrior and slit his throat without him ever even seeing her. 

Two down, three to go. She thought as her kill fell to the floor. All around her the roar of the crowd filled the air. She remembered what Octavia had told her all those years before, how she had won the conclave, 

"You don't have to fight every person, just the last ones and the ones that fight you. Don't go looking for a fight, let it come to you if it must, but other than that, let it go." 

Immediately, she stopped moving, trying to melt into the metal and grating. She watched as the Azgedian warrior killed the other two competitors with a slash of his sword, both having foolishly charged at him, then, he looked straight at her. 

Tazi could practically feel the audience holding their breath, mentally exchanging bets on who would win. 

"You are a stupid little girl," The warrior taunted her as they circled each other in a sort of dance, "However you managed to survive this long is beyond me. You should've been the first of the fallen. Unfortunately, I got distracted." 

The room was silent, waiting for any sign of aggressive movement from either of them. 

"Well, thankfully I was a little bit smarter than you. You did the dirty work and I'm here to finish you off." She retorted with a smirk. 

"You'll lose, I have no doubt, you're no match for me," 

"Oh really? The other guy was twice your size and I bested him pretty well,"

"You talk a lot of trash for a mouse,"

"Excuse me?" Tazi said, her eyes narrowing dangerously. 

"You heard me, Mouse, you're way out of your league. A mouse against a cobra, I wonder who will win. I know! The-" But he never had time to finish his sentence when a flurry of expert moves came over him. 

They fought and parried like madmen, each strike fiercer and more aggressive than the last. Tazi was running on a seemingly never ending stream of adrenaline, heightening her senses and giving her an burst of speed. Unfortunately, the same thing seemed to be happening to the Azgedian. For a few minutes the bunker was suspended in a heavy silence, the only sound being the clanging of their swords. Then, he pulled a move Taziana wasn't expecting. He swept his leg under her feet knocking her flat on her back, her sword by her side. Planting a foot on her chest he drew his sword. 

"Well, well, well, you fought bravely little Mouse. But eventually the mouse has to bow down to the cobra." He stabbed his sword deep into her side and pulled it out. Her side exploded in pain making her vision go red. All around her she heard a chorus of shouts and one unmistakable scream. Ethan's. She tried to lift her head to meet his eyes but the world was spinning. 

NO! Her mind screamed, I will not fall this...this way!

She could see his boots in front of her, meaning she was behind him. 

Come on, Tazi! For Indra, for Ethan, for Octavia! She commanded herself. 

Using every last bit of her strength, Tazi pulled herself to her feet. She heard the crowd gasp as she came up behind him, side dripping with blood, sword in hand. In one fluid motion, she flung her own leg under his feet and kicked his sword aside as he fell on his back. His brown hair splayed backwards, his eyes conveying a furious dance of emotions, anger, fear, submission, and he growled at her from underneath her sword point. 

"I think..." She gasped, black spots dancing on her vision, "That the little mouse...can learn...and..." She gasped as she lifted her foot so that it was planted on his chest near her sword, "Win." 

She stabbed the sword into his heart and the Azgedian warrior died. 

All around her the room exploded into cheers and shouts. Ethan's, Indra's, Abby Griffin's, Kane's, everyone in the bunker. Her breathing was ragged and she swayed on her feet, trying to use the sword to keep herself up. Just as she was about to pass out, she met Octavia's eyes with a determined look. 

Slowly, the steely eyes of Blodriena softened into those of Octavia Blake, and she nodded. Slowly, only once, but it conveyed a flurry of emotions. Taziana smiled, finally, finally, she knew she had won. And when she woke up in med bay the next day, she wouldn't just be Taziana, she would be Taziana, the underdog who won the fight, and Blodriena's second in command.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm leaving for three days for a camping trip and I'm not sure if I'll be able to update. Hope you enjoyed!


	11. Down to Earth (Part 1)

In Space: 2,189 days since Praimfaya 

"Who are they?" 

Raven's voice echoed around the silent room, asking the one question none of us have dared to ask. 

"I don't know," Bellamy spoke gravely, "No one else survived Praimfaya and I've never heard of anyone escaping before the first wave,"

The room was filled with a stony silence as Spacekru looked around at each other in varying degrees of terror. For the first time in over six years, they didn't know what to do.

Finally Murphy spoke, "What are we waiting for? We should light up the ring so they can see us."

The room erupted into shouting, most of the arguments seemed to be against Murphy's point of view, until Bellamy raised a hand and they all quieted. 

"Enough. We've had six years of peace. I know that we haven't been able to get to the ground because of the lack of fuel in the ring but it has been six years of peace. Before we proceed, we must remember that."

"Bellamy-" Murphy began, looking out the window, but was cut off again by Bellamy's slightly raised voice. 

"Clarke didn't die for us to live just to go back to the ground and make the same mistakes!" 

A heavy silence fell over the room at the mention of their dead friend and leader, the others knowing all too well how Bellamy felt about her death. 

"She sacrificed herself for us to live and we would only dishonor her by leaping into hasty action," He paused for a moment, then turned to his co-leader, Raven.

"Raven, what can we do?"

She thought for a moment, tapping the metal brace on her leg absentmindedly, then, 

"I can try to override their com systems and connect them to the ark's. It might not work...but," Her brown eyes light up, a possible solution on the horizon. "If I attach the radio to the ark's com system, and then send the electromagnetic waves to their ship, I might be able to gain an in into their system. Overriding it to tap out our message..." 

The room watched as their hgenius friend worked it out in her head, making mental calculations. 

"Yes! I've got it!" Without telling them their plan, she pointed to Emori, her right hand mechanic. 

"Emori come with me! I think I know what to do." 

The two girls rushed off as Raven drilled out some long equations and directions, all of which Emori seemed to understand. 

"Alright then," said Bellamy, unsure of how to continue, "Raven seems to have an idea down so the rest of us have got to help her as best we can, but otherwise stay out of her way." 

The others nodded in agreement, knowing all too well how Raven could be like when she was fixated on a problem. Only Monty was looking sick. 

"What is it, Monty?" Bellamy questioned, noticing the queasy look on his face. With the gaze of the room on him, he shrunk back a little, but responded, 

"Why do we even want to get back down to the ground at all?"

The room grew completely still.

"What do you mean?" Bellamy asked, already afraid of the answer. 

"Well," He drew in a breath, "We've survived six years in space at peace. Every memory I have on the ground is of war and death. Why do we want to go back to that?"

The statement hung in the air like an impending storm. Why did they want to go back?

"Monty," Bellamy spoke quietly, "Why didn't you ever bring this up before?" 

"I don't know. We've all been so fixated on getting back to the ground...it just didn't seem right." 

Harper nodded, "I agree with Monty, why do we want to go back? I mean," She looked at Bellamy, almost apologetically, "I know you want to see your sister but what do the rest of us have? I mean really? More war, more death...Whoever these people are," She motions out the window at the imminent ship, "I doubt they wish us well. No one does." Harper laughed bitterly as her statement sunk into the surrounding people. 

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, Emori burst into the room right at that moment. 

"Come on! Raven's got it!" 

Without a chance to reply to either of Harper or Monty's statements, Spacekru raced to the coms room to figure out exactly what Raven had done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, upon rereading what I’ve written, it appears we’re going to have to suffer through two chapters of not my best writing before my favorite section starts. I apologize for the drabness of these next two chapters, but I don’t really see a way to make them better. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!


	12. Down to Earth (Part 2)

Raven looked like someone had tossed a safety net full of holes at her. Unsure to say the least.

"Well..." She paused for a moment surveying the array of faces, "It worked."

At once the room erupted with cheering and shouting, choruses of, "You did it, Raven!" and "Finally" (Murphy) echoed around the metal room. Only Bellamy paused his excitement to notice the uneasy look on her face.

"What is it, Raven?" 

She bit her lip, like she always did when she was nervous or unsure, "I don't know who they are."

Most of the seven looked confused, but Echo understood in a heartbeat. "She means that she doesn't know if they are going to hurt us."

Raven nodded, relieved she didn't have to be the one to burst their bubble. "Yes, I've gotten through their communications but no one has responded," 

Suddenly, a sharp beep beep beep sounds from the communications station. In sync, Raven and Emori run over, Raven reading out a series of beeps and Emori furiously writes down the translation. When the beeping stopped, Raven read out what Emori had written down.

"Call to Ark Station, this is Eligius Cooperation, we can hear you- I repeat- we can hear you!" 

The room erupted into cheering once again. 

"We have a way home, guys!" Raven shouts and for a moment, she seemed truly happy, finally having broken free of the problem that had held her down for six years. 

Furiously, she and Emori tap out another message, We can hear you as well. We are stranded in this space station to your left and are trying to get down to the ground, can you help us?

After a few moments of breathless silence, gripped hands, and exchanged looks, another series of beeping emerged. Echo's hand in Bellamy's gives him a tight squeeze as Monty and Harper embrace. Raven and Emori complete their mechanic once again. 

"Yes, we see you. We aim to get to the ground as well. If you can get to our base we can get you to the ground."

"YES!" The room screams, even Monty joins in, the least enthusiastic (about getting to the ground) of all of them. 

With tears in her eyes , Raven shouted above the noise, "We're going home!" 

Bellamy turned to Echo, and his excited feeling faded when he noticed that she looked a little sick, "You okay?" 

"Fine," She nodded and kissed him, and smiling through the kiss, "It's all happening so fast." 

Bellamy nodded, then turned to Raven, who was watching the kiss with an off expression on her face. Underneath it all, she had never seemed to like their relationship, and he couldn't pinpoint why (though he had his suspicions). 

"What do we need to do to be ready?" 

As Raven rattled off a list of supplies and preparations, Bellamy looked around at the tin can that had been their home for six years. It was more time then he had ever spent on earth. Still, was it possible that he was finally going to see his sister again? After all this time? Would he touch earth where so many of the people he loved died, the spot where his best friend met her death saving them, saving him? 

"...So pack quick and then report to your respective tasks," Raven finished, with a small grin, "You've got four hours, let's go everyone!" 

Before each person/group went off to their respective rooms to pack the meager belongings they possessed, Bellamy took Monty and Harper to the side. 

"If you truly don't want to return to the ground, you can stay. We will make it work, just...know this might be your only chance." 

Monty and Harper gave each other a look, one that could almost be thought of as pity. 

"Bellamy," Monty spoke, his voice carried a faint smile, "I do not want to return to fighting and death and kill or be killed...but," He took a breath, "Clarke died to save us, so that one day we might return to the ground and do better there. I will not dishonor her sacrifice by staying. Plus, you guys are my family- I'd never leave you, even if it meant war instead of peace." 

Bellamy smiled and clapped Monty on the back, "If you're sure," then, turning to Harper, "And you?" 

Harper grinned, and it sparkled in her coffee-brown eyes, "The home is where the heart is," she said simply, and that was it. 

\---

Each couple (minus Emori, Murphy, and Raven) walked off to their respective rooms, with Echo by Bellamy's side, quieter than she'd ever been. As soon as they reached the old storage closet that had been converted into their room, he closed the door behind him and grabbed her shoulders.

"What is it?" 

"What?" She asked, feigning ignorance. 

"Please, Echo," Bellamy scoffed, "What's up with you? Ever since Raven's told us that we're going home you've been acting really off. So, as someone who cares about you, I'd like to know what's wrong." 

Sitting down on the bed, she shook her head and sighed, "I'm just afraid that everything will change when we get to the ground," 

"Hey," He knelt in front of her, and took her hands in his. A painful memory stirred, but he pressed it back down, "Nothing will change, I promise you." 

She nodded, "I know, I just have an odd feeling that something is waiting for us on the ground. Something that breaks us... Whatever," She laughs jadedly, after a moment, "It's probably my worries about still being banished."

"And I'm sure Octavia's not going to hold that against you, right?" Right? He thought. Six years was a long time even for a grounder. 

"Yeah," Echo smiled and kissed him, with a little bit of passion, and he put his hands on her waist. 

"All good?"

"All good."

She smiled lightly, and he knew that they'd be alright, no matter what surprises happened on the ground. Honestly, he was pretty sure nothing could surprise him any more. 

"Come on, let's get packing." 

\---

Four hours later, everyone was packed, all systems were in the process of being shut down, everyone but Bellamy and Raven were strapped into the dropship, and Raven and Bellamy were making one final sweep. Just as they were about to round the corner back to the dropship, Bellamy pulled Raven aside. 

"Hey, are you okay? You seem really tense."

She half smiled for a moment, the crease on her forehead disappearing a little bit.

"No, I'm good, just a little stressed."

"About the Eligius people?"

"Yes." She paused for a moment and he could see the worry in her eyes, "Bellamy, what if they hurt us? What if they kill us. We're blindly trusting some people we don't know to get us back to the ground. If we leave here, we can't come back. I just couldn't bare to be the reason anything happens to any of you."

"Raven, even if they do hurt us, and god knows what they could do, it would never be your fault." Knowing what she was getting at, he added, "No one's death was ever your fault. Finn's wasn't, Wick's wasn't, Sinclair's wasn't,"

"What about Clarke's? How about her's Bellamy?" He was shocked at how bitter she sounded,

"Cause I'm pretty sure you haven't forgotten her. Hell, if she was up here with us you and she'd have...ugh." Raven made a frustrated noise at the back of her throat. Bellamy was shocked at her explosion, she'd never spoken like this before. 

"Raven?" 

She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, leading isn't really my cup of tea. I get how hard it must've been for you guys," Then, "Okay, then. A two stop trip, first to a mystery space station, then to the ground. And we have no idea who they are or if this is going to work."

"Sounds like the ground." He said, and she smiled.

"Guess we're ready then."

As they strapped in, and Raven initiated the countdown, a flashback to Praimfaya played in Bellamy's head like a movie on re-run. 

"May we meet again," he thought as they blasted away from their safe, six year, home, towards an unknown danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aghh!! The plot is going somewhere now! (Did you get that bit of very obvious foreshadowing in Bellamy & Echo's conversation??😈😂). Are the Eligius people to be trusted- guess we'll see! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading/commenting- it means the world to me! 💖


	13. Eligius IV

Emori was positive they were going to die. She had made a terrible mistake, "Forwards, not backwards," Raven always told her, and, of course, she went backwards.

"HANG ON EVERYONE!" Raven shouted above the sounds and shakes of the booster. All hands found a place to grab onto, the seat, the strap, another hand.

"If we die, at least I don't have to see it," Emori thought bitterly as Raven made one last manual thrust forwards and they launched into the port of Eligius IV.

\---

Bellamy was also sure they were going to die. He'd never have admitted it to the rest of the group, but his last thought was "It's about damn time," before they were thrown into the port of an unfamiliar ship. Once the dust settled and the shaking stopped, however, he realized that they had made it.

"We're not dead?" Asked the worried voice of Emori.

Immediately, the cockpit erupted into cheers, "We made it!" being the popular choice followed by, "We're going home!"

Climbing out of the cockpit, Spacekru looked around at the empty area and familiar metallic twang of a space station. Suddenly, they heard footsteps pounding in the hallway. Echo drew her sword, but Raven stepped out in front just as a man in his mid-twenties approached to face them.

"Hello, stranded members of the space station orbiting to our left, my name is Aaron Carson, the very man you have been so kindly communicating with. And who might be our lovely communicator of this fine crew?"

Raven smiled, a bit of her cockiness back, "That'd be me and Emori," She said pointing to Emori who was standing next to the ship, unsure of what to do.

"Ahh," he said with a small smile, "I see,"

Immediately, Bellamy felt Murphy tense up next to him. He bumped him lightly on the shoulder and cast him a look that (he hoped) very clearly said, "Chill out,"

Murphy nodded stiffly, but not without setting a glare on the excited communicator, Aaron.

Quietly, Bellamy gazed at their surroundings. It was an old space ship judging by the slightly dimming lights (popular on the Ark), however it was very well maintained. And Aaron seemed nice enough, maybe a little too nice, but he wasn't complaining. After spending six years of safety then launching him and the rest of his family into an unknown space ship, the fact that the first guy they meet is nice was pretty reassuring. Or at least, so he hoped.

"Come with me, I'll show you to our captain,"

They walked along the metal hallway as quietly as possible, their feet only making soft taps on the floor. As they walked through the endless stream of corridors to the supposed "captain", Bellamy kept his senses on high alert, reminding himself that just because they weren't on the ground didn't mean they were safe.

As he stepped into a chilly open room, he heard Raven let out a breathless gasp. Surrounding them were mounds of tech, high tech by the looks of it. Computer dashboards, screens, radios, and control panels crowded any available desk space. Mounted on the left wall were giant screens displaying digital images of earth as well as the tiny green patch.

"Eden," Bellamy breathed, and there it was. Just as beautiful as it had looked from the ship, mounds of greenery tumbled over one another, a river bubbled next to a valley of purple lilacs.

Noticing his gaze, Aaron smiled.

"Yes, the only habitable part of Earth left. Our crew is already down there setting up proper civilization.

"Wait," Bellamy said, "Aren't there other people on Earth?"

The communicator looked confused, "What are you talking about?"

"The people from the bunker?"

The guy shook his head.

"No one named, Kane, Jaha, Abby...Octavia?"

Again, Aaron shook his head, casting a worried glance at the rest of Spacekru, as if to ensure that Bellamy, in fact, was not crazy. To be fair, Bellamy had started to wonder that himself.

Aaron gave him another glance

"Look, I'll talk to the captain and ask,"

"Ask me what?" A female voice echoed from the entryway. Bellamy saw Aaron physically gulp.

"Umm, Captain Diyoza, these are the members of the space station orbiting to their left..." He shrunk back under her scrutinizing glare, "The ones who needed our help...?"

She glared at him a moment longer before turning to face Bellamy,

"And you must be their leader," She stated, almost challengingly.

"I am," He said, nodding, "And I want to know if you've found anyone else on the ground."

"As, I'm sure, Aaron told you, we have found no other inhabitants on the ground,"

"Who's we?" Bellamy questioned.

"A team of trusted agents we sent to the ground to collect data. They report back every hour on the hour. In fact," she said, glancing at the computer screen, "They should be reporting back any minute now."

All the sudden, the peaceful shots showing on the computer screens were interrupted with shots of gunfire and the distorted image of two people rushing across the field. A flash of blonde hair lit with red streaks caught Bellamy's eye and he almost fell backwards.

"Can it be?" He thought in disbelief, and then he heard her voice.

Crackling through the com system came the familiar voice of a long dead friend, leader, and martyr.

"Madi, hurry, hide. You have to leave me here!"

"I'm not leaving you! Please, Clarke!" Came the terrified and anxious voice of a young girl.

The sound of her name broke the shock that had been placed over the small group as all eyes turned on their stricken leader.

"Clarke..." Bellamy breathed, the only sound in the silence.

Captain Diyoza looked at him, as if sensing some kind of feelings bubbling under his surface.

"You know her?"

"She's...dead," He choked, "At least," He looked at Raven, pleadingly, unable to see through the tears in his eyes.

"She was," Raven whispered. "She died saving us,"

"I see." For a moment, a version of pity appeared on Diyoza's face.

"McCreary, come in," She commanded.

Immediately, the radio responded, "Yes, Charmaine? If you couldn't tell, we're pretty busy at the moment."

"We don't have any time for lip, you need to capture the blonde,"

"Wait! Hold on a second!" Bellamy shouted, fear overtaking him. Diyoza smiled as if enjoying his pain for a moment, and then continued.

" Leave the little girl if you must, but get the blonde. I have a feeling she might be important."

Bellamy strained against the deathlike grip Aaron suddenly had him in. Dimly, he heard the voices of Raven, Murphy, and Echo yelling.

"Copy that," Crackled the radio with a different voice, younger.

"You watch him Lieutenant Shaw. One foot out of line, McCreary..."

"Copy that." Came two voices as Diyoza shut the radio off.

Turning to Aaron, Bellamy could see the glint of evil in her eyes, a terrible foreshadow of what was to come. For Spacekru, for him, and...for Clarke.

"Sedate them, Lieutenant. I want them with the cargo, it'll be a long way down."

Just as he was about to yell, Bellamy felt a cold point of steel drive into his neck as the world around him went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy knows Clarke is alive! And we have Diyoza (love her)! What did you think? 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading and commenting! 💗


	14. Reunited

On the ground- 2,201 days since Praimfaya

Clarke was pretty close to straight out murdering this man named McCreary. He'd tortured her, threatened Madi, and talked to her like she had no idea what he was saying (which was probably good considering she was trying not to blow her cover). Though he was clearly brawn with very little brain, she was pretty nervous about the quieter man that stood beside him. Though he had not participated in any of the "conversations" he hadn't exactly stopped them (though sometimes he looked like he wanted to). Still, something about him told her that he really wasn't all that bad, the way he stiffened when McCreary hit her, or buzzed the shock collar. Of course, that could've been her blurry imagination. 

"Stay strong for Madi. Stay strong Clarke!" She thought, desperate to keep from sinking into unconsciousness due to the pain. McCreary's favorite method of torture seemed to be slashing deep gashes into her arm with a switchblade every time she didn't respond to his answer. Her arm and clothing was stained with strong-flowing rivers of black. She'd have those scars for life. 

Her body wasn't used to this after six years of relative peace- a splinter here, a scrape there, a broken arm (thanks, Madi), she could deal with those easily, but the never ending needles of electricity coursing through her body? The constant gashes that only seemed to grow deeper and deeper? It was a world of pain she hadn't felt since Praimfaya. As Clarke usually did when she needed to escape, she remembered better times. Memories of the dropship camp, seeing her mother again, Bellamy's hand on hers in Mount Weather, "Together", her time with Lexa in Polis, Raven's cockiness, Murphy's sarcasm, Monty and Jasper's practical jokes, Octavia's growth, and the day she met Madi, flashed across her mind in a whirlwind of sunshine piercing the darkness and she felt a painful smile growing on her lips. Suddenly, thoughts were fractured as her head was jerked upwards and she saw the wicked face of McCreary glaring down at her through her two, nearly swollen shut, eyes.

"Why are you smiling, you little bitch? Do you want more of the shock collar? Do you?" He taunted in a thinly veiled attempt to see if she could understand him. 

"Please? Does he think I'm that dumb?" She thought, desperately trying to stratigize a way out. 

"Well?" He demanded, but she just glared at him. 

"Fine," He growled, "Bring in the little bitch." 

Clarke's heart clenched into a tight fist, which must have been clearly evident on her face, because McCreary smiled evilly. 

"Ahh, so you can understand me. Let's see how much you'll talk when you see what we're going to do to the little biter." 

Clarke's heart stopped. The quiet man sitting in the chair's seemed to too. 

"Hold up, McCreary, she's just a kid!" He exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? Well then she," He jerked his head towards Clarke, "better start spilling." 

Clarke's face hung a defiant glare but her heart and head held a tumble of worries. 

"Please, Madi. Stay strong. Don't let weakness show," Clarke thought desperately, begging in her head for Madi to hear her as the tiny girl was dragged into the room. 

At the sight of her, Clarke gasped. She had a line of bruises down her jaw and a gash on her forehead where, presumably, some prisoner had smashed her head with the butt of his/her rifle. She'd know, the same thing happened to her. Still, even though her face looked a little worse for wear, the rest of her seemed unhurt, which brought a sigh of relief to Clarke's pain clouded face. 

"Oh ai god! Klark, laik yu okay?" Madi exclaimed, seeing Clarke's bruised and battered face and bleeding arms. 

"Shof op, Madi! Say no mo!" Clarke cried, her voice sharp. 

Madi stiffened and nodded, not happy with the reprimandation but gaining an understanding of how dangerous the situation was. 

"What did you say?" McCreary questioned, his face dangerously close to hers. Clarke snapped her mouth shut at once, afraid he might be able to pick out pieces of their unfamiliar language. 

"Fine," he spat at her, "We'll see how soon you talk when we mess around with your little friend."

Again, the quiet man spoke up, "What are you talking about McCreary?! She's a kid! You aren't seriously going to hurt her?" 

"Shut it, Shaw. I'll do what I have to. Bring the collar!" He shouted to one of the nearby prisoners. 

Clarke's faces erupted into white hot fury. 

"How dare they shock collar Madi. How DARE they!" She thought, furiously, as she strained against the tight bonds holding her to the wall.

"Don't like that, now do we?" McCreary taunted as Clarke strained pointlessly, "Tell me who you are and where the rest of your friends are and I won't hurt her." 

Clarke glared at him, trying to signal Madi with her eyes to keep calm. 

"Okay then, have it your way," But instead of pressing the button on the collar that was not attached to Madi's neck, she heard the metallic click of his switchblade being opened. 

"What the hell are you doing McCreary?!" Shouted Zeke, standing in front of Madi. 

"Getting answers!" He shouted, and brushed passed, to pin Madi's arm up against the opposite wall as she writhed and twisted trying to get out of his iron grasp. 

"No!" Clarke screamed, her throat raw and scratchy from lack of water, "Please, don't hurt her!" 

McCreary grinned maliciously, "Sooo, she does speak. Tell me, how many others are there?"

"None," Clarke spat, "It's just the two of us."

"Oh really?" Then, faster than lightning, he grabbed Madi's arm and slashed the switchblade down on it hard. 

Clarke, Zeke and Madi screamed in unison. 

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Zeke thundered, grabbing the arm that held the switchblade and slamming it against the wall. 

"LET GO OF ME, SHAW, OR SO HELP ME..." McCreary roared, as Clarke and Madi stared in rapt silence. 

All of the sudden, another prisoner rushed in. 

"Lieutenant Shaw...Lieutenant McCreary, Captain Diyoza just radioed. They are on their way down with some "special cargo"." He stood nervously, scared of the precarious position the two men were in. 

Zeke was the first to respond, never loosening his hold on McCreary.

"Thank you, Noah, please tell her that we are glad to expect her." He said, just as the sound of roaring thrusters shook the tiny space. 

McCreary grinned, wickedly, "I guess you'll be able to tell her yourself." 

Zeke just glared at him in disgust, "Bring them," He said, motioning to Clarke and Madi, "I think Diyoza might want to meet them." 

\---

Bellamy woke up to the shuddering of a rocket landed, quickly, he looked around at Spacekru. They were all in the same position as him, strapped into old seats and knocked out. 

"How did we get here?" He thought in shock, but then he remembered the prisoners, the technology, the video, and...Clarke. Clarke, his princess, was alive!

"Raven, Raven, wake up," He called in a hoarse voice to his co-leader beside him.

"Wha-what?" She gasped, her head shooting up from its previous position of hanging on her shoulder. 

"Raven, I think we're here. I think we're on the ground." He said, hardly able to contain the little bit of excitement from seeping through his offhand aura. 

"Well, then wake everyone else up, idiot. They're probably coming to get us soon and we need to be on high alert." 

Bellamy nodded and they proceeded to shake or call to the other members of Spacekru until everyone was awake and alert. 

"What do we do when they come to get us, Bellamy?" Harper asked, looking a little worried.

"We hear them out, let them take us wherever we are going, but try to negotiate with them. I'm sure they are reasonable people." 

At that, Raven cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. 

All of the sudden, footsteps echoed above them as Captain Diyoza opened a hatch and proceeded down the ladder accompanied by two guards. Seeing everybody awake, she gave them a half smile. 

"Ahh, good, you're all awake. I think there's someone you want to meet, though don't freak out too much when you see her." The last statement was seeming directed at Bellamy, and he feared for what he would see on the other side of the metal wall. Once everyone was unbuckled and standing, Diyoza led them up the ladder, through a short hallway, and two the dropship door. A call back to their first journey on the ground echoed in many people's faces. The metal door hissed open, revealing warm sunshine and the smell of greenery, and in the middle of all of the peace and happiness...was Clarke. Bruised, battered, and bleeding black, she and another young girl lay at the feet of a prisoner, the one clearly in charge down here. 

He started to run/walk towards her, his heart pounding like the sound of a thousand drums.

"That's far enough," Diyoza called and two of the guards stopped him before he could take one more step.

"Clarke..." He breathed, and the broken body of his co-leader, turned best friend, turned partner, lying five feet in front of him looked up through two swollen baby blue eyes widened in shock.

\---

Clarke's. Heart. Stopped.

He couldn't really be here? After all this time? And just in time to save her? She looked up at her best friend through two swollen eyes, and breathed out one word.

"Bellamy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh- they're back together again! Once again, thank you for reading and commenting!


	15. Conversations and an Enigma of Feelings

"Bellamy?" 

All it took was Clarke's confused gasp for Bellamy to come to his senses and break free of the grasp the guard had him in. He raced to her side, dropping down to his knees and cradling her head in his hands. 

"Clarke... you're really alive." He gasped, still coming to terms with the truth himself. 

She nodded weakly, "And now you're home... took you long enough." 

He laughed, still amazed at the miracle that was Clarke Griffin. 

"Ah hem," Diyoza coughed, and Bellamy swore he saw Clarke almost blush. "If you two are finished, I think your dear friend needs to get cleaned up a little bit. Then we all can...talk." She spoke the last word in a strange voice, almost as if she had swallowed something bitter. 

"Oh, uh, right," He stammered, helping Clarke to her feet, and for the first time noticing just how much black blood was leaking from her arms onto the grass and her clothing. 

"Hey," He said, suddenly very concerned, "Clarke, are you sure you're okay to walk?"

"I'll be fine," She said through gritted teeth, clearly in a lot of pain. Her face was white as a ghost and her hands were clammy. 

"Clarke?" Bellamy asked as she swayed on her feet. Suddenly, she collapsed to the ground, unconscious from blood loss. 

White hot fear bolted through him, he wasn't going to loose her again, not this time. 

"Hey!" He shouted, "She needs help!" 

\---

The last thing Clarke remembered was looking up into Bellamy's worried face for the first time in six years and thinking that this would be a good place to die. Madi was safe, or would be with Bellamy, and he knew that she was alive. She has survived long enough to see that, couldn't that just be enough? Alas, the world had other plans. Painfully, she forced open her eyes. What she saw surprised her, Bellamy asleep on the chair beside her, his hand resting on the blanketed table she was laying on. Her arms were heavily bandaged and she could see a little bit of black bleeding through, she also had a few bandages on her forehead from various cuts. Fun. 

"Bellamy?" She questioned, her voice raspy from lack of water.

His eyes flew open immediately sitting up straighter and looking right into her eyes. 

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked, immediately concerned. 

She wanted to laugh, a memory of the past becoming real again. It felt so good to have him back. 

"Yeah, yeah I'm all right." Then fear flashed through her brain, dissembling the moment of happiness in seconds. 

"Wait! Is Madi okay?!" She asked, her heart leaping in fear. 

Bellamy smiled, nodding. 

"Yes, she's alright. Raven's with her now." 

Clarke relaxed immediately, knowing who Madi was with. Even after six years of separation, there was almost no one she trusted more than Raven. Well, except Bellamy, who was very conveniently right next to her. It had taken a while but now she finally felt whole, as if the key puzzle piece that was missing was finally found. 

Her pale blue eyes found his dark brown ones and she smiled. It hurt, what with all the cuts on her face, but it was pain she'd gladly take as a memory of six years before was resurfaced. 

"You have hope?"

"We still breathing?" 

Yes, they were. Breathing in harmony after years of being apart. God, if she died right here and now she'd be pretty sure she would be happy with the life that she'd gotten. All of the sudden, the door to the room swung open and a woman came in. 

"Captain Diyoza?" Clarke thought, not entirely sure if that was her name. 

"Clarke," the woman said, "I'm so glad to see you awake." 

Yeah, she wasn't so sure she believed that one, but she managed a weak nod. 

"Captain Diyoza." She said, letting her voice lift up at the end as if to pose a question. 

The woman nodded. 

"Well, I think I should leave you to your friends who have been waiting for you to wake up." She laughed a little bit, "They were quite the handful." 

As Diyoza exited she heard a jumble of voices and a very clear, 

"Oh, so now you're going to let us see her?!" 

"Shut up, John." And a grunt of pain as he was, presumably, elbowed in the stomach. Bellamy let out a short laugh. 

"When she told us that no one could see you until you woke up, I thought they were going to kill her right then and there. Probably why she had all those guards around." 

Clarke managed a weak laugh, and then something hit her. 

"Wait, how did you get in here then?" 

Bellamy looked down and... blushed? 

"Well, we couldn't exactly have no one with you," His face got dark, "I mean, we didn't know if they'd pull any of the Mount Weather crap on you. I just kinda offered and got voted into here." 

She nodded, grateful. She didn't know these people either, and the thought of what a psychopath like McCreary, who had hurt a child, could do wasn't a comforting thought. Just then, the door opened and a flood of people ran in. People she hadn't seen in six years, and one bright smiling face that made everything relax. 

The group circled around her bed, Raven, Murphy, Monty, Harper, Emori, Echo, and Madi. 

For a few seconds, a heavy silence surrounded the group as they took each other in, until one voice spoke, Raven. 

"Oh my god, Clarke! I thought we would never see you again!" she cried, enveloping Clarke in a hug. 

Gradually, one by one everyone came up to her and gave her a huge hug, some were crying, some were trying not to cry (Murphy), but she could barely see everyone through the veil of her own tears. Once everyone had pulled away, she patted the space next to her and Madi ran to her side and hopped up on the table, laying down in the gap between Clarke's body and her bandaged left arm. 

"Heya, ai strik nigtblood," She said, kissing Madi's hair. 

"Heya, Klark." Madi said, snuggling into her side. 

Clarke looked around at the group who seemed to be waiting for her to say something. 

"I'm going to assume you have questions," she smiled and everyone burst into a babble of chatter. Questions like, "how'd you do it?", "where do you live?", "who is the girl?", "are you okay?", and others flew at her like a tornado. Only Bellamy and Echo seemed strangely quiet. They appeared to be having a conversation through their eyes, and with a sinking heart Clarke realized she knew that kind of conversation. It mirrored the ones she and Bellamy had and it meant only one thing, a relationship. Her smile fell from her face, and Raven clearly knew what she was thinking because her eyes narrowed and she shot daggers at Bellamy, who abruptly turned back to the group. Clarke managed to answer all their questions, but some part of her heart wasn't in it. 

"It has been six years, " She reminded herself as she answered Monty's last question, "He had to move on, I mean, I practically told him to. But, still..." She thought, there it was again, still. Raven had been monitoring her closely during the conversation and could definitely tell that something was on her mind (she probably even knew what the something was) because she stood up abruptly from her chair and told the rest of them to, quote, unquote, "Get the hell out so she could talk to Clarke alone." 

Madi looked curiously at Clarke, as if wondering if that meant her too. Clarke nodded, and she scurried off of the table to take Emori's hand. It appeared as if she'd already grown close to her friends. Well, six years of stories probably helped. Bellamy lingered in the room, almost unwilling to go (even as Echo walked out with the rest) but Raven gave him a very angry glare and he seemed to get the message. Hell, even she got it. 

"This is your fault, Bellamy. Get out or I'll break you in two." Raven was great at giving those looks. 

He nodded, almost shamefully, and left. 

Raven sank down onto the chair he'd just vacated. 

"He was there all night, you know." Raven said with a small laugh. Oh, Clarke knew. Even six years of separation wasn't going to change his loyalty in that way, which was a comforting thought. 

"Anyways, I'm assuming you've guessed it." She said, sounding defeated. 

"Oh, Bellamy and Echo?" Clarke asked, even though it wasn't really a question. Raven nodded. 

"I am sorry, Clarke. I wish...I wish we knew you were alive, or...I don't know....anything. That way Bellamy wouldn't be in this position." 

"Raven," Clarke said gently, "He had to move on...plus, it's not like we were together or anything." 

Raven laughed, disbelievingly, "You honestly thought that no one thought you were together?" 

She nodded, a little confused. 

"Wow...you two...wow. Did you know that when Emori and I were working on the space ship, right before the coms blew up, we were betting on how long it would take for you two to get together in space? She said a week, I said a day."

Clarke wasn't sure weather to feel honored or offended, she settled for mostly confused. 

"And neither of us like him and Echo together. I mean, we're happy for him if he's happy, but he needs you. I mean, you guys are basically soulmates." 

This conversation was spiraling in a direction she hadn't expected and growing weirder by the second, get together, soulmates, needs you. 

"What is happening?!" Her head screamed. 

"Oh, god," Raven continued, her voice taking on a much more serious tone, "There were days when I thought, well, we all thought, that he might float himself." 

Clarke looked up, shocked. 

"There was this one time, exactly three years after Priamfaya, that I found him looking out a window at 2 am crying. He was looking at earth, at you," She paused, and her next words were spoken in a breathless whisper, "I'll never forget what he said." 

Raven had tears in her eyes. Raven. Tears. The two just didn't go together. 

"What did he say, Raven?" Clarke asked, becoming more nervous by the second. 

"He said, 'Sometimes, a lot of the time, I wish that it had been me who stayed behind. Not her. It always had to be her, and, you know what I find funny, Raven? The fact that I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach before I let her go off alone to fix the satellite, that she was right, that she wouldn't come back. But I let her go anyways, because what's one more loss, right? Everyone I love or loved is dead, she was bound to be the next.' He started crying a lot after that, but I heard one other thing that really scared me, he said that sometimes he thought that if he died, not that he'd commit suicide, he owed you "that much strength", but if somehow he did die no one else would have to die and he could see you again." 

Raven finished, and Clarke gulped down tears. He'd said that? Bellamy? The same guy who gave her the confidence to make every terrible decision with the knowledge that he would always be behind her, backing her up. Shit. 

Raven shook away the tears, "Well, I don't think that made you feel any better, but I really needed to tell you that. I promised myself that, if by some miracle you were still alive, I would get Bellamy Flipping Blake to tell you all of this stuff himself. I won't have him put himself through that again." 

Clarke nodded, incredibly grateful for her best friend. 

"Anyways, I'm glad you found Madi, she really is the cutest little thing ever. She's so devoted to you, like a daughter." 

She smiled, reveling in the love she had for her surrogate daughter. 

"I'll let you rest now." Raven said, and started to walk to the door, but paused and turned around in the door frame, "I'm really glad you're not dead, by the way. And so is he." 

She left, leaving Clarke more confused and unsure of herself than ever. All she knew was that Bellamy Blake's emotions were an enigma that she was determined to figure out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG. 6x10. I. DIED!! BELLAMY BLAKE WAS 100% HEART!


	16. Negotiations and Confrontations

Bellamy walked, head bowed, down the hallway of their main ship after Raven unceremoniously kicked him out of Clarke's room. He tried to put on a calm expression but inside him head was a war. For some reason, Clarke's shocked look when she realized his relationship with Echo left him feeling kicked in the stomach, like he had betrayed her.

"That's completely ridiculous," he argued with himself, "I am allowed to have a relationship with someone else. I mean....she was dead for six years! Wait. Clarke and I weren't...she wasn't my....damn it!"

He clearly was showing the range of emotions on his face as he walked into the other room because Madi put her hand in his forcing him to meet her gaze.

"Clarke will be okay. I know it. She waited six years for you to come down, she won't give up on you now that..."

Great, so even the kid had realized it.

He nodded, grateful for what she said, none the less.

"And...thank you for saving us. I mean, Clarke knew you would but, still..."

Bellamy's eyes filled with tears and Madi blurred before him.

"Yeah, uh. Of course."

Madi nodded and smiled, and then walked back over to Emori as she put her arm around her. Raven entered the room moments later, a heavy expression on her face that only served to make Bellamy feel worse. Her eyes said, "We'll talk," but something sad in her face made him fear what Clarke had said. 

All of the sudden, Diyoza and McCreary walked in and the entire room grew still. Two figures standing in a doorway shouldn't have carried the level of fear they did, but Diyoza's dangerously calm expression and McCreary's murderous one installed apprehensive looks among the group.

"Bellamy?" Diyoza called, "We need to talk."

He raised his eyebrows, indicating to McCreary, "With him? You mean the one who tortured Clarke?" Madi had filled them in with the details after Clarke had been taken away and right now they were filling him with incomprehensible anger.

McCreary stepped into his face, "Protective boyfriend, much?"

Behind him, he heard Raven choke.

"Clarke is not my girlfriend." He said, as another pang in his chest echoed, along with the heavy feeling of lying.

"Right..." McCreary seemed genuinely confused for a moment.

"Right," Diyoza interjected eyeing the two of them apprehensively, "Bellamy, if you'll come with us for a few minutes there is something we need to discuss."

Both Echo and Raven made a point to lift their eyebrows at him.

"Fine."

Wordlessly he followed them out into the hall and into an adjacent room. 

"So, you've informed us of your bunker situation," 

Bellamy nodded, unsure of where this was going. 

"We've decided to act," 

"Really...that's, uhh," Not what I was expecting, he wanted to say, but held his tongue. This might be their only chance of getting the bunker open quickly. Theoretically, they could spend months or years lifting thousands of tons of debris but he had a feeling his friends wouldn't thank him for that. 

"That's great," He finished, finally. 

"Yeah, well, don't count your chickens before they hatch. We have one condition: your people become our people." 

Bellamy choked, "What?! What do you mean, 'they become your people'."

"Exactly what it sounds like," Diyoza rolled her eyes, "They surrender whatever leadership they have going on down there and join us to coexist in the valley. Sound fair?"

He was still trying to understand what was going on. Live under their leadership?! He didn't even know who they were, or what they were fully capable of doing. He hadn't missed the hundreds of guns being loaded off of the ship, or the fresh scars covering Clarke's body (from the psychopath McCreary). The very thought made his blood boil with anger.

"Hang on, how do we know you won't hurt us? Like you did to Clarke?" He glared at McCreary. 

Diyoza huffed, "Nothing like that, which I'm sure you'll be glad to know," So you can stop bringing it up all the time, said the very clear undertone, "But precautions will be taken, shock collars, check ins, designated times, stuff like that. You know, until you can be trusted." 

"Shock collars?!" he exclaimed, hardly having heard anything else.

"Relax. You only get shocked if you do something out of line." 

"And if you annoy us," McCreary added under his breath. 

Bellamy cocked his head, "Excuse me?" 

"Oh I think you heard me, you filthy-" 

"He's got it." Diyoza interjected, "Don't you, Bellamy?" 

He gritted his teeth and nodded. 

"So, do we have a deal?" 

He hesitated, "I need to talk to the others. We'll get back to you by sundown." 

Diyoza nodded slowly, eyes narrowed and McCreary glared- basically the perfect depiction of both of their personalities.

"Sundown," was the final confirmation he got as he made his way out of the room and back towards his friends. 

They seemed to be waiting for him because the moment the door swung open the whole room stopped talking. 

"So," Raven asked after a tentative moment of silence. 

"Diyoza agreed to help open the bunker," 

Immediately the room erupted into cheers, only Echo seemed to notice Bellamy's head shake. 

"What's wrong?" She asked, immediately concerned.

"Well...she said in order for that to happen, we, and everyone in the bunker, have to submit to become their people," 

"What?!" The room exclaimed. 

"I know, I know, but we didn't have much of an option," 

"Isn't there anything you could've done to change that?!" Raven asked, her brow furrowed in a dangerous question. 

"No. Look guys, unless you want to spend the next who knows how many years lifting thousands of tons of rocks we have no other option!" His voice was strained at the end, desperation rising through the cracks. 

"What else," Raven said, her voice sounding like a broken record, "There's always something else." 

Bellamy hung his head and nodded, "Precautions," 

The room exploded again.

"Like what?!" Murphy shouted, his voice the loudest out of them all.

"Check ins, designated times...shock collars," He tried to trail off at the end, slightly hoping that no one heard him, but of course they did and more screaming erupted. 

"What the hell, man?!" Monty shouted, "We're people, not animals!" 

"I know. Look, they won't use them on us if we listen and don't do anything stupid. They said they will take them of eventually!" 

"Oh, eventually! What, after we die?!" 

At this point it was hard to tell who was saying what. 

"Jesus, Bellamy." Raven said, putting her head in her hands, "Are you really this bad of a negotiator or is it because Clarke isn't here to help you?!" 

That was low, even for her (and she had been chipped by ALIE). For a moment, Bellamy forgot that Clarke was still alive.

"Yeah, well, CLARKE'S NOT HERE." He shouted, and suddenly the room grew silent. He inwardly cringed, what had he done? 

Bellamy looked around apologetically, "Look guys, I didn't mean to-" but he was cut off by Raven motioning shut up and Madi pointing at the door. 

Slowly, he turned around to look at the doorway. Once he saw the figure in the frame, he wanted a time machine solely to take back every bit of what he just said. 

Her head was cocked a little to the side, lips in a sarcastic smile, and eyebrows lifted as if to say, "Oh yeah? Forget about me?" 

Both of her arms were still heavily bandaged, but one rested on her hip while the other hung at her side. Her blond hair hung short, chopped to her jawline, and he saw the faded, but distinctive highlights of red dye berry juice. Her crystal blue eyes were dangerous. A figure as small as her own shouldn't have been as imposing as it was, but this was Clarke Griffin they were talking about. When was she ever not imposing? 

"Clarke," Bellamy said slowly, ashamed of what he had said and for leaving her completely out of the conversation. 

"No, no, don't stop on my account. I hear negotiations are going wonderfully." She said, with a bite to her tone that he'd never heard before. Again someone choked. 

"Look, you don't understand!" 

"Really? Could it be because you're making a whole bunch of decisions that affect my home for the past six years and not telling me about it? Or did you, "forget" about me?" 

Everyone looked down, only Madi kept her eyes firmly glued to the scene unfolding. 

"No! We just...I-" 

"And, to make matters worse, you're working with McCreary, who did this," She held up her arms slightly and he could see pain clouding her eyes from the tiny effort. 

"Clarke, I'm sorry, I-"

She raised her eyebrows again. 

"I think you two need to talk," Murphy said, and everyone nodded quickly, as they ushered themselves out of the room, a couple of them shooting apprehensive looks in the pair's direction. 

Once they were gone, Bellamy stepped towards her, she backed away every so slightly, which stung his heart more than he liked. 

"Clarke, I am so, so sorry. I never meant to do that to you, it's just hard to come back from six years where you were...you were..." He couldn't bring himself to say dead. 

Her gaze softened just a bit, "I get that. But, Bellamy, what you're doing, making a deal with Diyoza and that psychopath McCreary could put Madi in danger, and I cannot let that happen."

He nodded, finally coming to terms with the fact that Clarke was virtually alone for six years, with nothing but a child to keep her company. She had to love Madi more than anything else in the world, just like he did Octavia. 

"I know, I get that now, I promise. I wasn't thinking about how it would hurt you or Madi. Honestly, I don't think I can even process that we are having a conversation. That's not something I EVER thought would happen again." 

She looked a little worried and a little confused, "What do you mean?" 

"I mean that it hasn't been an easy few years. Not for me, anyways." 

"What do you-" But Clarke was cut off as the door swum open revealing Diyoza and McCreary. 

"Sorry to interrupt your couple chat," Diyoza said, clearly ignoring the looks on both of their faces, "Clarke, I'm glad to see you up and about." She said, addressing Clarke with a nonchalant nod before turning to Bellamy for the real reason she interrupted. 

"Bellamy, do we have a deal?" Clearly small talk was not her thing. 

"It's not sundown yet!" He exclaimed. 

"I got bored of waiting," She said, simply. 

"We haven't come to a decision as a group." He informed her, as calmly as he could

"Well, you better make one on the next ten seconds or it's off the table," 

"But we haven't agreed on anything!" 

"Sounds like a you problem to me." 

Bellamy was this close to punching her, and it looked like Clarke was too. 

"Ten," McCreary said with an evil smirk.

Bellamy's mind raced. 

"Nine," 

What could he do?!

"Eight," 

He didn't have the right to make executive decisions like this! 

"Seven," 

Oh, he was screwed. 

"Six," 

Clarke looked at him anxiously, fearing his response.

"Five," 

Could he choose for them? Would they forgive him? 

"Four," 

Shit. Time was running out. He had to choose.

"Three,"

Not being very diplomatic, he argued with himself

"Two," 

Ugh, screw diplomacy. 

"One," 

"Okay, okay, okay!" He shouted, then turned to Diyoza. 

"I've reviewed your terms with everyone, and while they are very kind, we can't accept them. Putting our people in that kind of position isn't something we will ever do." 

He tried to sound as confident as possible, like a leader, but inside he was terrified. What would she do?

"Very well," Diyoza said slowly. 

Bellamy nodded, relieved that she hadn't decided to execute them right then and there.

"If that is your choice, then I ask that you leave the premises within 24 hours." She said, staring at him intently. 

"I'll pass along the message, thanks." 

Just as he started to walk out the door with Clarke, Diyoza called after them. 

"Fair warning, Bellamy, next time we see each other, it won't be as friends." 

Bellamy nodded, "See you then." 

\---

The walk back to Clarke's room (where the group had decided to stay) was quiet. He could tell Clarke was thinking, but he couldn't tell if it was good or bad. 

Everyone lifted their heads up when the two walked in. 

"So, did you talk it out?" Murphy teased, but their expressions remained solemn. 

"What happened?" Emori asked, looking worried. 

"We met Diyoza," Bellamy said, his voice oddly rough, "She made us choose." 

There were collective gasped and multiple frightened faces. 

"What did you choose?" Harper asked, her voice scared. 

"I said no. We won't agree to those terms. No way," 

The group's expression turned from worried to relieved to back to worried in seconds.

"She also said we have to be gone within 24 hours. So pack whatever you've got now." 

"Wait?" Raven interjected, "What about the bunker?" 

He mentally cursed himself for not having something to say.

"I don't-" Suddenly, an idea came to mind. One terribly dangerous and revolving completely around Raven's talent. 

"Raven," He said slowly, "How good of a hacker and pilot are you?" 

She looked a little hurt, "Pretty good, why? You've seen me before."

"I know, I just need you to be really, really good." 

"Okay, but-" 

He paused for a minute to gather his thoughts.

"I think I've got a plan to get our people out of that bunker. It's crazy dangerous and you're going to have to do most of the heavy lifting, but it could work." 

"Tell me," she said, her eyes shinning with determination. 

Over the course of the next 15 minutes, he explained his plan to the group. Slowly, heads started to nod and people started to come around. 

"That's all I've got, if you think of any suggestions, please throw them out." 

Raven eyed him. 

"So let me get this straight, you want me to hack into their transport ship's system, which will be insanely hard to do, by the way. Then you want me to find a tool, that they probably have 'because they are miners' that can break open tons of rock and debris- all without getting caught. Then you want me to fly the thing and use the tool to open the bunker? All of which relies on my 'talent'." 

Bellamy nodded, fearing that when she put it like that, the rest of the group wouldn't agree. 

"Are you all in?" He asked to the silence. 

Finally, Clarke nodded, "I am and I trust Raven. We can do this." 

Slowly, everyone agreed. 

"What the hell," Raven said with a small Ravenish smile, "Let's go hack a ship and bust open a bunker."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi....I forgot to update today...well, yesterday...my bad. Summer is getting crazzzyyyy! Well, here it is! Hope you enjoy!


	17. Meetings and a Dangerous Escape

Clarke bit her lip as she watched Bellamy and the others discussed the plan in hushed tones. It used to be her everyone would turn to for answers, her who made the final decision, her who they counted on, now it was Bellamy. She tried not to feel a little jealous and left out, it had been six years after all, but watching all her old friends work seamlessly without her was pretty hard to stomach. 

"At least he listened to you and became a well rounded leader," She argued with herself, "He's taking everyone's opinion or idea into account. Doesn't that mean that you should step aside and let them do it?" 

But something in her wouldn't sit still.

"Clarke, Clarke?" Someone was saying her name. She shook her head to rid herself of the daze she was in. 

"What, oh, sorry." She mumbled, "What were you saying?"

Bellamy gave her small smile, "I was wondering if you have any suggestions? You've been here longer than us," His smile faded at the end and Clarke felt her heart sting a little bit. 

"Well, I can't be much help until we get out of here, but Madi and I," She nodded to the little girl who she loved with all her heart, "Have a couple of reserve shelters on the outskirts of the woods we can use if we want to- but there obviously isn't enough space for 1,200 people," 

Everyone grimaced at the thought of having to deal with 1,200 people and only a barren wasteland for a home. 

"Yeah...we've gotta get better at negotiations." Raven said, shaking her head. 

"I'm sure once we get the bunker open we'll be able to come around to something," Bellamy said, but even tt might've been too much of a hopeful stretch. 

"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it," Harper interjected winning nods from everyone. 

"Okay, so Raven," Bellamy said, "Run us through what you need one more time," 

"All right, so we're going to have to sneak aboard their transport ship and knock out the guards-"

"God, we sound like a bad action movie," Murphy joked, his sarcastic humor providing a much needed relief for the moment.

Raven laughed, "Thanks, Murphy." 

Then her expression returned to her default serious one. 

"Anyways, you're gonna have to take out the guards AS QUIETLY as you can. Quietly is important. Alerting anyone would be a very very bad idea." 

The group nodded, even six years later no one's forgotten that. 

"I estimate it's going to take me 5-7 minutes to crack their encryption, assuming they have a semi basic level for their time. I'll most likely be able to access their weaponry status, find a cannon big enough to make that bunker go boom, and get us the hell out of here before something bad happens,"

"And if you can't?" Harper asked, voicing the question no one wanted to ask.

Raven looked grim, "If I can't, they find us, and we all go boom. So let's not dwell on that."

Her words were final and the conversation came to an end. 

Bellamy looked around, "We go when it's dark enough they wont be able to see us clearly, around 10:30 ish. Be ready." 

With a nod from everyone the meeting adjourned.

\---

A few hours later, Clarke had told Madi to go to bed, but the young Nightblood refused. 

"But, Clarke!" She protested.

"Hush, Madi. You need rest. We're going to have an eventful night and you need to be awake and alert on your feet," Clarke spoke like a mother to her disobedient child, which was kind of true.

"But no one else is sleeping!" She complained, and Clarke couldn't help but smile a bit before composing herself once more.

"Madi," She said, her voice a careful warning.

"Fine," Madi pouted and stalked over to her makeshift bed in the corner. 

Shaking her head, Clarke smiled. Even though Madi could be a pain sometimes (and she had a feeling Madi had mostly been trying to push her buttons) she loved the little girl with all of her heart. Suddenly, a quiet figure sat down beside her. 

"Bellamy?" She asked, though pleased to see him.

"Hey, Clarke."

She nodded in reply.

"Madi being difficult?" He asked, though his words were laced with a smile.

"Oh yes," She laughed, "She grows ever more a teen by the day. Sometimes I wonder if I was that bad for my mom," Clarke smiled, but then grew somber, remembering the mountain of obstacles (literally and figuratively) between her and her only other blood family. 

"Hey," Bellamy said gently, recognizing the shift in her demeanor, "We will get Abby out of the bunker, we'll get everyone out, I promise."

Clarke nodded, finding comfort in her words even if she didn't totally believe them. 

"So..." He said, obviously unsure how to start a conversation with someone who'd been dead for six years. 

"So..." Clarke said with a smile, "You and Echo, huh." 

Bellamy blushed, though she noticed a condensed pain and sadness in his eyes. 

"Oh, yeah. There isn't a lot to do in space for six years. How bout you, how'd you cope?" 

Immediately, her mind shot to the radio calls, the painful, cold, fist of isolation closing around her heart once more. 

"Oh, you know, hiking, hunting, collecting berries, and I had Madi," She said, as nonchalantly as possible. 

Bellamy nodded, and then bit his lip, "You know..." He trailed off, and then started again, "I really wish..." 

"What?" Asked Clarke, perplexed. What question could be so difficult to ask?

"I wish I had known you were alive all of those years," He said, almost breathlessly, like he was admitting it to himself for the first time.

That's when it really set in, he never got the calls. She knew he probably wouldn't have, due to the heavy level of radiation between them, but she always hoped... Just like that, a little bit of her heart got stepped on. 

"What?" He asked, noticing her apparently crestfallen face.

"Nothing. No, I was just thinking, I wish I'd known about you too. It was torture not to know if you lived or died...especially when you didn't come down after the five years..." 

Bellamy grimaced, "Yeah...That probably sucked for you, I'm sorry. I can't believe how brave you were, all that time, having to raise a kid and suffer through isolation..." 

If only you knew, Clarke thought, bitterly. 

Sensing an unspoken end to the conversation, Bellamy got up, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"Get some rest, it's going to be an eventful night." 

Oh, I know, She thought, when was an escape mission ever not? When was any mission ever not? 

He walked away, but Clarke's eyes lingered on him. There was so much she wanted to tell him...

\---

"Clarke, wake up," A voice called, Raven's. "It's time to go."

She nodded and pulled herself to her feet trying to do a quick appearance check. Undoubtedly her hair was a mess and her clothing rumpled, but who cared. It was dark, anyways. 

She quickly shook Madi awake, "Time to go, strik won," She said gently. 

Madi nodded, though clearly dazed, and tumbled out of the bed and on to her feet. 

"Ready for your first escape mission?" Clarke asked, a little teasingly. 

Of course Madi knew all of the stories of their many escapes, and was especially enthralled by the narrow ones, the ones a little to close for comfort for Clarke. She still shivered every time she told them, as if the next time they wouldn't have made it out of Mount Weather or Emerson's trap alive. 

The young nightblood nodded vigorously as they walked to join the group. 

"Alright," Raven said in a hushed tone, "You all know the plan, and remember, as quietly as possible. Got it?" A chorus of nodding heads responded. 

"Good. Now let's get the hell out of here." 

They crept along the hallway and raced to the open entrance, guarded by two guards. The ones who were guarding their room were currently conscious on the floor, Silently, Echo and Bellamy ran up behind the two guards and pistol whipped them into unconsciousness. 

"Sweet dreams," Raven muttered and Clarke heard Madi stifle a laugh. Octavia may have been her favorite, but she loved Raven almost as much. Seriously, though, it was Raven. How could you not love her?

They raced to the (smaller) transport ship, the one McCreary and the original "scouts" had come down in. Again, it was guarded by two patrol officers who received the same treatment. 

"Dang," Whispered Murphy, "We are on a knocking guards unconscious roll today. And we haven't even killed anyone yet." 

It was honestly sad that that was a the highest bar of positivity for this, however true it was. 

The group snuck aboard the ship with silent feet. Once they were safely aboard, Raven got right to work, seated behind a big chair that covered her from view. Clarke looked over at Madi, she'd been given a small pistol with orders not to shoot unless absolutely necessary. Still, it gave Clarke some backwards relief to know she had her own protection that she knew how to use. 

"This was too easy," Bellamy said, voicing the concerns the rest of them all thought but not wanted to mention. He was fidgeting with the gun on his hip, and checking to make sure the others had their weapons. 

"They either don't believe in security or..." The sound of a gun being locked and loaded stopped the sentence in it's foresighted tracks. 

"We walked right into a trap..." Murphy said.

"Right you did," Colonel Diyoza called from the doorway, two dozen prisoners behind her with their guns all raised and loaded.

"Everyone, drop your weapons, put your hands where I can see them. Do this and your death will be quick," 

Everyone searched each other's faces, desperate for someone to take the lead.

Finally Bellamy spoke, "Listen to her, lay down your weapons," 

"Bellamy!" Harper exclaimed, shocked. 

But Clarke saw what he was going to do. No one had seen Raven yet, she was hidden by the group and the chair. Most importantly, she had a gun. As Bellamy made a big show of putting the gun down, he was inching towards the chair, just enough to push it around, and, 

"Now, Raven!" He shouted pushing the chair around as Raven fired bullets like a madwoman, hitting the majority of her targets before they could react. Simultaneously, the group grabbed their own weapons and hit the floor firing at as many people as they could see. 

"Behind me, Madi!" Clarke yelled as a slew of heavy gunfire ensued from both sides. All of the sudden, a ripple of pain burst through her side as two bullets (clearly aimed at her unguarded heart) missed. She tried to steady her hazy thoughts, but heavy waves of pain made her vision swim with black.

Meanwhile, a small battle raged on around her. The outcome would've been unpredictable without Spacekru/Clarke's prowess and practice with guns in close range and Raven's surprise, but due to those factors, within a minute the Eligius guards lay dead a Diyoza's feet. 

"Lower your weapon," Bellamy commanded, pointing his gun at her head, "You shoot at one of us and you and your entire crew including those outside are dead. So I'll tell you one more time, Lower. Your. Weapon." 

Slowly, Diyoza held up her hands lowering herself onto her knees to drop her gun. 

"Let her live," Clarke ordered, though her voice sounded shaky. She hoped no one noticed the two bullet wounds, but she held her side anyways, the palm of her hand covered in blood. 

"We're going to want an important hostage," 

Bellamy nodded and Murphy, who had walked over, took a fallen guard's handcuffs (Aaron, the guard Spacekru met when they first boarded the Eligius ship, though Clarke didn't know that), and clamped them around Diyoza's wrists. 

All of the sudden, the sound of footsteps echoed throughout the ship and a new face appeared in the doorway. The man was around twenty-three or so, with light chestnut skin, brown eyes, a shaved head, and a short (hardly noticeable) mustache. Immediately, all guns but one (Bellamy's, still pointed on Diyoza) turned on him. 

"Lieutenant! Drop your weapon and get on your knees. Now!" Diyoza ordered. The man looked confused.

"Colonel, what's going on? I thought these were the-" 

"Do you want to end up dead?" Raven asked, head cocked, pointing a gun at his head.

The man's stance shifted, as if getting ready for a verbal fight.

"I don't know, but I wonder if you know how much noise your little scuffle caused? The fact that I'm the first responder means that the others are gathering and planning how to attack."

"Wow, that must take a lot of work due to the obvious lack of brain cells here. I mean, getting in was way too easy," Raven taunted, and the others were enraptured in the verbal sparring. 

"Oh, yeah? And how were you planning to fly this, then? I don't see a pilot much less a hacker and-"

Raven started smiling, the trademark Raven smile that mean you were in for it.

"Really? No hacker or pilot? Well then, boys and girls, we have a show to put on. Chain him up," She ordered, and Murphy disarmed him and clasped another pair of handcuffs around the man's wrists. 

"Raven," Bellamy said, "I think you'd better hurry." 

The sound of marching feet was getting closer by the second and Clarke was struggling to keep focus.

"Almost got it, almost got it," Raven muttered, "Got it!" 

The sound of thrusters being fired echoed through the ship.

"Shutting the door... strap in boys and girls, we have a bunker to bust," 

"Remind me to have you install better security, Shaw," Diyoza muttered.

"Copy that," The man called Shaw said. 

Everyone found their seats but Clarke was left staggering. Her mind was a haze, two coherent thoughts could not be put together. Pain rippled through her body and her blood was beginning to drip and pool on the floor. She stumbled and grabbed onto the back of a chair.

Bellamy was the first to notice, "Clarke? What's wrong," Then he noticed the black blood on the floor.

"Clarke!" He shouted, rushing to her side, "Clarke, you've been shot!"

"Just," She gasped in pain, "A scratch," She tried to laugh but her breathing was becoming increasingly labored.

"Raven, get us off the ground now!" Bellamy shouted, desperately trying to support Clarke, but her legs gave out and she fell into his arms. 

Her vision was swimming but her last shot was of Bellamy and Madi's scared faces and a choked voice saying, 

"Stay with me, Clarke. Please. I can't lose you again, I can't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is probably my favorite of the fanfic! I hope you enjoyed!


	18. Saving the Saving Grace

Bellamy paced the floor of the ship anxiously, his heart thundering in his ears as he watched a twelve year old girl try to save his best friend. There had to be something horribly ironic about this, the girl he left behind and thought to be dead turns up not dead but then dies a day later.

"No. Stop," He commanded himself, "She's not dead yet. Madi can save her."

Even he didn't believe himself. Judging by the worried and sick looks on their friend's faces, no one else was confident either.

"The bullets are in her side," Madi shouted, "If we can stop the bleeding and get her to one of our safe houses- there is medical equipment there. We have to hurry! Between the slits on her arms and the bullets, she's lost a lot of blood!"

Her voice broke at the end and it was clear she was trying not to sob. Bellamy's stomach dropped as he watched Harper and Emori tearing off strips of fabric to give to Madi to replace the ones already soaked through with blood.

"We're almost at the edge of the valley, Madi! Tell me where!" Raven shouted.

"I can't- Clarke!"

Her breathing was slowing down.

He raced over and took the loose cloth from Madi's hands.

"I've got her! Show Raven where to land!"

"Bellamy..." Came a weak whisper from beneath him.

"Hey, Clarke. I'm here, don't talk. You got shot,"

Her blonde hair was pasted to her face with sweat, and her blue eyes were struggling to stay alert as they were clouded with pain.

"You're going to be alright. You have to be," Bellamy said, trying desperately to keep the waver out of his voice.

"Medical kit," she gasped, "Under bed...Madi knows,"

"Okay, just stay with me,"

"Get the," Another painful gasp, "Bullets out, and..."

She was starting to fade.

"Clarke, Clarke!" He shouted, shaking her a bit.

"Leaves...sew shut...cold cloth...pressure...watch for...infection...and"

Her life was slipping away from under him faster than Bellamy could react. They had to get her to that kit fast.

"Clarke! Clarke, look at me! Please, what were you saying?!"

"Watch for..."

Her beautiful blue eyes slid shut. Her last breath expelled but a whisper.

"Fever..."

She sank into his arms, all resistance giving away.

"Madi! Raven!" Bellamy sobbed, holding her lifeless body, "We have to hurry! Clarke's dying!"

"I know that, Bellamy!" Raven shouted, through clenched teeth.

"No, she's completely lost consciousness! I can barely feel her pulse! If we don't find that safe house SHE'S GOING TO DIE RIGHT HERE!" He shouted, loosing it a little at the last part.

"Here!" Madi shouted, pointing to a small clearing beneath them.

"HOLD ON!" Raven shouted, "IT'S GOING TO BE ROUGH!"

With all the grace of a drunk Murphy (don't ask) they landed in the small clearing with only a few bumps and bruises, well, and a bleeding out woman.

"Quick!" Madi shouted, as Bellamy scooped the unconscious Clarke up in his arms.

"This way," They exited the ship in a hurry, gingerly stepping over the dead bodies of the guards.

"You guys!" Raven pointed at Murphy and Harper, "Stay with the hostages,"

"Please save her!" Came Harper's strangled reply.

Bellamy nodded, and Madi through open the door of a well concealed hut.

"Put her there!" Madi shouted, pointing to a small work table in the corner. He lifted her up and tried to place her down gently but she still groaned in pain.

"Madi! I think she's coming back around!"

"NO! No, that's bad! Here, make her drink this," She gave him a couple of dried flower petals in a cup of boiled water (the girl made a fast fire), "A chamomile infusion, it's a natural sedative. If she's awake for this, she might not be after the pain! Got it?!"

He got it.

"Hey, hey, Clarke. Clarke, I need you to sit up and drink this, please."

She moaned but managed to open her mouth a little bit to swallow the medicine. Within minutes, she was out like a light. An improper simile given that much needed daylight was nonexistent.

"Madi, what do I need to do?" He asked, clearly seeing the little girl trembling. It wasn't fair to put saving someones life on a little girl, but Clarke had trained her- she was their best (and only) option. She lit a candle and held up a flashlight.

"I'll need you to hold this over me. I'll need a light for this."

"Okay, anything else?"

"Ummm... did she say anything before she-" She gulped, barely containing a sob, but he knew what she meant.

"Something about cold cloth, pressure and...leaves?" She was so out of it he wasn't sure if she was talking about something medicinal or she just really liked leaves, but Madi's head shot up and he was guessing it was the former.

"Of course! Hold on," She walked outside and came back in a moment later with a handful of leaves.

"Let me just see..." She pealed away the bloodied cloths, gritted her teeth, and tried to clean the would with a damp rag. "Hold up the flashlight."

Bellamy did as he was told.

"Ooo-kay," She said in a shaky voice, "This is the hard part..." She bent down to pick up the medical bag with shaking hands.

Slowly, he realized what she had to do, "You have to take out the bullets, don't you?"

"Yes. From my best vantage point, I'd say the bullets hit the very edge of her rib cage and ricocheted into her side, so she almost definitely has a fractured rib, but I believe that was enough to slow both bullets down. I don't think they hit anything major and the bullets weren't able to go very deep, so we are very, very, lucky. But if I don't get this out with some semblance of perfection, I could hit one of her intestines or a delicate nervous system and then she'd be dead for sure."

His eyes were wide with horror, "Can you do it?"

"I think so. Clarke had me practice a lot on smaller animals so that if she ever got shot, I could do this. I can do this."

She spoke last sentance more to herself than to him.

He knew she needed comfort,she shouldn't have to do this anyways, but that conversation needed time, something Clarke was dangerously low on.

"You can do this, Madi. For Clarke."

She nodded, dug out a thicker, tweezer looking tool, and sterilized it with some very old looking saline. With a deep breath, she proceeded to gaze in to the bullet wound, make a mental calculation, and dig the object into Clarke's side.

The next minute was the most intense of Bellamy's life. He held his breath as he watched Madi move the tool around ever so slightly and slowly, slowly, extract one bullet, then the other.

"This kid just saved her life," Bellamy thought in awe, "This is Clarke's kid for sure."

He exhaled a stiff breath and turned to the girl, "What now?"

She breathed in and out.

"Okay, I need you to take these wet cloths and apply pressure to her wound while chewing these leaves. When the leaves are sufficiently mashed, spread the paste on her would. It's Yarrow and will help with clotting blood. After that, you have to clean the wound while I find our needle and thread and..."

"After that," He pressed.

She looked directly into his eyes, a pair of deep grey-blue against a pair a pair of dark chocolate ones.

"After that," Madi said never dropping her gaze, "We have to keep her from dying,"

"Fever?"

"Fever."

He did as Madi asked, chewing the bitter (but not entirely inedible) leaves into a pulp and pressing the damp cloths to Clarke's would.

"I 'fink da weaves ar mas-ed" Bellamy said, trying to speak through a wad of the medicine.

"Okay! Remove the cloths, take the paste out of your mouth, and spread it on the wound."

He did, the paste feeling an odd combination of gritty(ish) and slimy, and spread it over the wound.

"Okay, that should help. Give it a few minutes then I need to sew it shut."

She gulped, clearly terrified of screwing up and killing her only family.

"You got the bullets out, you can do this, Madi. We have to save Clarke." His voice wavered a bit on her name and he cursed himself for letting it through. The girl needed as much strength as he could give her. 

After a minute Madi looked at him and said, "Okay, now!"

He scraped the gunk off of Clarke's wound and cleaned it for all of 10 seconds. Then Madi came in, needle in hand and began to stitch. It was a disgusting and bloody process as the needle danced in and out. He kept checking on Clarke to make sure she was breathing, she was so pale she could've been dead, but the microscopic rise and fall of her chest told otherwise.

"Come on, Clarke," He thought desperately, "You can hold on. Madi needs you to...I need you to," 

At long last, which was really only 30 seconds later, the young nightblood pulled back and let out a suffocating breath. 

"We're done," She said, never looking at him, only to Clarke. 

He turned off the flashlight and nodded. A rush went down his arms when he let them swing back to his sides,grateful for the relief. Bellamy, sensing she wanted a much needed moment alone and proceeded to leave the hut, but not before glancing back one last time to see a single tear drip down Madi's face and fall onto Clarke's cheek. The gentle candlelight illuminated the droplet turning it gold and glimmering, like a ray of sun. 

Immediately after he left the hut, he was bombarded with questions about Clarke.

"Is she alive?"

"Can we see her?"

"Is she going to make it?"

"What did Madi do?"

"Did you get both bullets out?"

"Is she sick?"

"Is she alseep?"

"When will she wake up?" 

"Can you fix her?"

"Where's Madi?"

The last question came from Raven and Bellamy nodded to the concealed hut. 

"In there, with Clarke," He took a deep breath before continuing, "We got both bullets out and Madi knew of herbs that could help her wound heal. She lost a lot of blood though and she's very pale. It's up in the air if she will make it or not," 

He spoke the last words with a choked voice. He didn't want to show weakness, especially not if Colonel Diyoza or the man named Shaw was in hearing range, but it was Clarke. The prospect of her dying now, after all of those years in isolation was heart wrenching. He couldn't lose her again, not this time. It would break him beyond repair. 

Harper put a comforting hand on his shoulder, that was her nature, but everyone else remained perfectly still as if all the breath had suddenly been sucked out of area around them. 

"But-but she'll make it right?" Raven's voice stuttered a bit. 

Bellamy bit his lip, "I hope so," 

He knew everyone noticed he said "hope" not "think" or "know" but he couldn't muster the confidence, because if she didn't...didn't make it, then it would hurt so much more to believe she would then if he didn't.

"I'm...I'm going to go over..." He started but then he heard Madi's shriek from the hut and a high pitched "Bellamy!" 

"Madi! Madi!" He shouted as he turned and ran back into the hut. What he saw when he got inside made his heart stop in it's tracks. 

Clarke lay on the table shaking and convulsing. 

"I think it's the pain finally catching up with her system! It's an overload on the nerves!" 

"I thought the Chamomile infusion would knock her out well enough!" 

"Well, clearly it didn't!" 

Clarke's eyes shot open and she screamed in pain. It was the worst sound he'd ever heard, tortured and shattering. He rushed to her side and she grabbed his arm with a vice like grip. 

"Bellamy?" She croaked, and then screamed again. Her eyes sky blue eyes were clouded in agony and a sob racked her body. 

"Shhh, shhh, Clarke. I'm here. Madi's here. You're going to be okay." 

She shook again, more violently this time.

"Madi!" Bellamy shouted, "She needs something to knock her out! Now!" 

Madi's crystal grey-blue eyes were wide with fear. Behind her the rest of Spacekru gathered, wearing looks of equal terror. 

She gulped, "One thing, maybe, but this is all we have of it," 

She reached into Clarke's bag and found a needle full of liquid, ran over to her and stabbed it into her neck. 

Immediately she collapsed, whole body growing limp as the anesthesia worked its way through her system. 

"Madi?" Bellamy said after a breathless moment. 

"She's...she's good...she should be...o-o-okay..." 

Then Madi started to sob, the volume racked her body and the similarity to Clarke just moments before was scary. For a moment, he was afraid she'd collapse to the ground, but instead(much to his complete surprise) she stumbled forward into him. For a moment he stood there in shock as she wrapped her little arms around him, but then his brain kicked back on and he wrapped his arms around her, rocking Madi a little bit. 

"She's going to be okay, she's going to be okay, she's going to be okay. Clarke is strong,"

"You think so?" Madi whispered.

"She's the strongest person I know," And he meant it. It wasn't trying to bring down anyone, it was the truth. There was no one he'd ever met, not even his mother, who was stronger than the girl who laid still as death on the table behind him. 

Madi nodded into him, and her tears proceeded to soak part of his shirt, but her sobs were less brutal now.

Eventually she pulled away, and wiped her tears with her hands. Even though she had just cried a river of tears she seemed to be better, still shaky but more stable. 

"You good?" He asked, and she gave a weak smile. 

"Yes, thank you." 

He inclined his head and returned her smile. Around them stood the shocked faces of his friends obviously surprised by everything that had just happened. 

He turned to look at them, "I'm gonna stay with Clarke, if that's okay?" 

They all nodded.

"Yeah, yeah," Raven said, shaking her head, "We'll set up camp in the ship- I think I passed by a sleeping corridor, there were cots bolted to the wall. We'd better sleep before we make a plan to bust the bunker open," 

They all nodded and everyone left, Echo giving Bellamy one last glance on the way out. A look that was a mix between pity, sadness, and an odd expression, one that looked strangely like she was resigning her self from something. 

But he didn't have much time to dwell on it, because Madi came back over to him just then with a plant that looked like a purple and green star spreading out from the middle. She took a few leaves and grabbed her knife that she had left on the table and began to peel away at the skin until she was left with a clear gel which she scraped into a small bowl. 

"What is that?" He asked. Clearly it was meant for healing, but how so?

"Houseleek gel, it's really good for healing wounds and helping with infections and inflamed skin," 

He was genuinely impressed, it was impossible not to be. This mini-medic was exactly like Clarke and was the only reason she still was alive.

After she had collected the gel from about ten more leaves and then walked over to Clarke and spread the clear goo on her raw wound. Immediately the skin around the bullet wound seemed to glow with relief, the healing gel working its magic. 

"What do we do now?" He asked, after she had set the bowl back down and wrapped the wound in cloth. 

"Now, we wait." Madi said simply, but yawned a little at the end. Bellamy could tell that the past hour had been extremely taxing. If he had to guess, it would be around 12 am, way past her bedtime. 

"Here," He said kindly, "I'll stay with her. You get some rest- I'll wake you up if anything changes,"

He smiled and she nodded reluctantly. 

"Okay...but if anything happens..."

"You'll be the first to know." He assured her. 

She gave a tired smile and fatigue danced in her eyes. She gave him a bowl of the gel, a cold chamomile infusion, a couple of yarrow leaves, a bowl of water, cloth, and a bundle of dried lemongrass and lavender. Seeing the puzzled look on his face at the last gift, she explained.

"Wave it in front of her nose a couple times to see if she will wake up. It usually works well for people who are unconscious, but it might be different because...you know..."

"Because Clarke was shot, in a ton of pain, and might not ever wake up," He thought, dejectedly. Oh yes, he knew. 

Madi exited the tent as swiftly and silently as the night. If one wasn't in there moments ago, no one would have ever guessed that another person had just been there.

Quietly, Bellamy's gaze turned back to Clarke. Her smooth, slightly angled face, was tinged with grey-gold in the candlelight, her pale pink lips were cracked and dry from lack of water. Still, she was beautiful. He especially loved her shorter haircut, light blonde and choppy. A stray strand of hair that was still faintly dyed red from the berries, hung on her cheek like a paintbrush stroke. How fitting. Slowly, he lifted his hand to gently brush the spare strand back behind her ear, letting it curl around. Suddenly, he noticed the tiny punctures in her ears- she'd had her ears pierced. The thought made him smile. It brought him back to his childhood, Octavia bugging their mom over and over to give them to her, just so she could where Aurora's single pair of silver rose earrings. He wondered what earrings she had once had- silver studs seemed to suit her. Somehow the thought of teenage Clarke getting her ears pierced like the girls of the past made her seem a little less surreal and a bit more here. 

He realized he hadn't quite been able to accept that she was really alive. That instead of dying to save them, she had saved them and then suffered through six years of radiation, keeping herself and a child alive, and living through isolation. He had meant what he had said to Madi about Clarke before-she was the strongest person he knew. Hands down. 

Silently, like ghosts of the past, tears filled his eyes and slipped down his cheek to his jaw. He couldn't loose Clarke, not again, not ever again. 

"Please, Clarke," His voice shook worse than an earthquake, "I can't lose you. Madi can't. Come on! You can make it through this, I promise. I'll be here...I'm never leaving you again. I-I..." He thought about what he was about to say. He did care about Echo, but not the way he did about Clarke. It wasn't fair, and he felt horrible about it, but it was true. 

Softly, he whispered in her ear the only truth he knew. 

"I love you, Clarke." 

He watched his gentle breath lightly tickle her hair, making it wave just the slightest bit. 

Tenderly, he slipped his hand in hers, letting their intertwined fingers rest on the table. 

Bellamy lowered his head down on the table beside her, "Just to rest for a moment," He thought, sleepily. 

\---

It seemed he'd been out only a few minutes before he heard the whispered, scratchy, question of a not-so-dead girl.

"Bellamy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the chapter I am proudest of...there was quite a bit of research put into the medicines Madi used- all would've existed about where "Eden" was geographically, and they all were used for medicine in the past. Of course, I'm sure this isn't 100% factual, it was just done to the best of my research 😂. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!


	19. Breaking In and Breaking Up

"Bellamy?"

Clarke's voice was raw and a little hoarse, but it sounded beautiful all the same. She would always be beautiful to him...

"Clarke," He breathed, and a smile caressed her dry, cracked lips. She tried to sit up, but immediately looked sick, and Bellamy placed a gentle hand behind her back, guiding her back down.

She smiled gratefully, but then confusion and worry encapsulated her face, "Wait! What happened?!"

He looked down, bit his lip, and then looked back up at her, "How much do you remember?"

"I remember getting on the ship, getting caught, all the shooting... I remember a stab of pain so I think I got hurt somewhere, but then it all goes black,"

"Clarke," He said gently, "You got shot. Twice,"

"What?!" Her eyes flew open in shock, "How? What? How did I survive?"

"Madi," Bellamy said with a gentle smile, "She saved your life. I've never been more impressed with anybody- or their mother," He added, and a smile tugged at Clarke's lips.

"She knew exactly what to do, and never lost her cool. You would've....would've..." He couldn't bare to finish the possible outcome.

"Would've died," She said, "It's okay, none of you guys are trained medically, what could you have done?"

He knew it was a rhetorical question, but it stirred something inside of him.

"Something! We had to have done something! I just can't believe..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence and seem ungrateful for what Madi had done.

Her expression softened, and she put her hand on his.

Immediately, a bolt of energy passed between them, causing them to catch each other's eye. Time faded away until the only thing Bellamy could think of was the crystal blue of her eyes- oh, how he could stare into them forever. They were mesmerizing, kind and soft, and yet they could be as good as Medusa's head for paralyzing you.

But this, this look she was giving him, it wasn't dangerous or threatening at all. It was soft, sweet, intimate. It changed her face, erasing all the worry and pain lines, leaving behind something young and smooth. It was like all her worries, burdens, and pain, had gone away. In that instant, he knew that he would do whatever it took to make her look like that again.

And then she broke the stare, looking down and blushing. Clarke? Blushing? His mind couldn't process it. All of the sudden, a young girl's voice was heard from the other end of the room. The noise couldn't be described as anything other than a squeal of pure joy.

"Clarke!"

Madi rushed over to her side, about to give her a giant hug, but then clearly remembered the bullet wounds in her side. She restrained herself to only wrapping her arm's around Clarke's neck.

"Heya, ai strik nightblood," Clarke laughed as Madi buried her face in her shoulder. Stroking her hair, Clarke said, "I heard you saved my life. That was extremely brave, Madi. I'm so proud of you,"

The young nightblood's face lit up, like a child on Christmas morning.

"I did okay," She said, bashfully, and Bellamy just shook his head with a smile.

"I'd say you did more than just okay," He teased, tapping her lightly on the nose.

She smiled and blushed under the praise and Clarke raised an eyebrow at him. That just made him smile more. In all truthfulness, the two people before him were starting to feel more and more like his family. Not the friend kind of family, like he and Spacekru shared, but the kind he'd always secretly wanted. The husband, wife, daughter kind.

Wait? What?

He was broken out of those thoughts by the rest of the group bursting in the door.

"Clarke!" Raven cried, and ran forward to give her best friend a light hug, careful of Clarke's injuries.

"Hey guys," She laughed, "We have to stop seeing each other again like this,"

Everyone laughed, and he could swear he saw Raven wipe a tear from her eye.

"Yeah," Raven laughed, "You gave us quite a scare. It's a good thing Madi over here is a mini you,"

There was a chorus of nodding heads, and several, 'Yeah, absolutely!'s.

Madi blushed crimson under all of the praise.

"I-I didn't- I don't- I'm not..." She stuttered, and they all laughed, which only served to make her flush a deeper red.

"Hey, you earned the praise," Raven said with a smile, placing her hand on Madi's shoulder, "You did something no one else could ever have dreamed of doing. We're forever grateful for that,"

Her solemn last sentence suspended the room in silence. Then, Madi turned to her and flung her arms around Raven. For a moment, it appeared as though she was in shock, but then Raven's face melted into the warmest smile Bellamy had ever seen on her, and she hugged the young girl back just as hard.

It was quite the sight, and would've warmed even the coldest heart.

Eventually, Madi stepped back with a grin on her face, and nodded.

"So, I know we still have a bunker to blow open,"

That was one way to ruin the mood and get to the point.

"Madi's right," Clarke said, struggling a bit to sit up. Bellamy placed a hand behind her back, guiding her up, and she shot him a grateful smile before returning her gaze to the group.

"We need to get that bunker open, as soon as possible. No doubt McCreary and the other psychopaths over there are already out looking for us.

"Well," Raven smiled a bit, "I do have some good news,"

Immediately, everyone's ears perked up. Any good news, any at all, would be a much needed relief.

"It appears that, along with their Colonel/Captain/whatever you want to call her, we also caught their pilot,"

She was greeted with silence. Shaking her head, she looked around at the group in disbelief,

"Seriously, guys?"

"But...what does that mean?" Asked Murphy.

"It means that they can't fly! Their giant ship with all of the high tech can't operate because there is no one to operate it!"

Clarke got it, "We have a foot hold they don't,"

Raven nodded, pleased, "A very big one, at that. They're grounded, and can only attack one way, so that gives us more time. Also, because we have Diyoza who, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be their battle strategist, it's going to be a little bit until they can regroup to form a solid plan. This gives us the time we need to get the bunker open and regroup with everyone there,"

This was almost too good to be true, but they'd take it. They'd take anything.

"Alright," Bellamy said, relief and excitement (at the prospect of being reunited with Octavia) showing through his leader facade for a moment.

"That sounds good. We should leave as soon as it's dark, we don't want McCreary to have any chance of spotting us. The sooner we can get that bunker open, the better,"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Clarke added,

"I agree, I'm not sure what we are going to find when we open that bunker, but we have to be ready to compromise. We also, almost definitely, have a war on our hands. A war over the last survivable place on earth, the only place to keep us alive,"

"Deja-vu," Monty whispered, but everyone heard.

"Yes, but this time," Bellamy shot a meaningful glance at Clarke, "No one get's left behind,"

Silence hung, thick in the air, like fog, as everyone relived the final hours before Praimfaya, and the ones after. They weren't pleasant memories.

"Alright, then," Bellamy said, interrupting the string of painful memories, "That's the plan. We all good?" 

Everyone nodded. 

Spacekru (minus Bellamy) was about to leave the hut when Clarke's voice stopped them,

"Wait, Raven," Clarke asked, cautiously, "How do you know all this?"

Raven gave her a sly smile.

"Let's just say a drugged pilot has loose lips."

With that, the group left the hut, leaving Clarke, Madi, and Bellamy alone.

"I can not be the only one who thinks that Raven is a bit inclined to that pilot," Madi said, point blank.

"Madi!" Clarke exclaimed, while Bellamy cuffed the top of her head lightly, not even close to hard enough to hurt, and he seemed ready to laugh.

"What?!" She made a kissy face, innocently, "It's trrrruuuueee,"

She drew out the last word, sounding so much younger than 12, that it was quite cute. 

"Madi," Clarke reprimanded, "Don't be a gossip,"

"It was you who told me stories about Raven's 'tragic' love life. Though I though it was Murphy-"

"Madi!" Clarke exclaimed in shock, "Be quiet!"

For just a moment, hurt flit across her face, but it was covered up immediately by an eye roll.

"Whatever," She mumbled a bit, and then glancing at the two of them, she retorted with, "I'll leave you two to talk,"

Clarke and Bellamy flushed a deep red at what she implied. Happy with the reaction, Madi grinned impishly and skipped out.

Clarke sighed, then looked up at Bellamy, "I am so sorry. She hates getting treated like a kid, even though she still is one. She'll lord that over my head for the rest of my days,"

"Why?" He asked, confused at what had prompted the young girl's teasing. They hadn't been around each other that long...

"It's just..." Clarke hesitated, "I used to tell her..." She trailed off looking down.

"Tell her what?" He prompted.

"Never mind, it's not important,"

"Clarke," He stared, but she interrupted him.

"I'm tired, Bellamy,"

And he knew that was the end of the conversation. Still, whatever she had wanted to tell him. It had to have mattered or she wouldn't have been so hesitant. He was startled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice.

"Bellamy?"

It was Echo.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to you,"

He looked down at Clarke, who had shifted to face him, to ask a nonverbal question.

Should I go? Can I go? Do you still need me?

The last was about more than just her injury, and she knew it too.

She shook her head and motioned to the door.

"Go. Your girlfriend needs you."

She spoke evenly, and her voice showed no resentment, but something in her tone when she said 'girlfriend' left him feeling something in the pit of his stomach. Something that felt a lot like betrayal.

He nodded slowly, and exited the hut, but not before casting one last long look at the woman he had been separated from for six years. The one he knew, undoubtedly now, carried his heart in her worn hands.

He followed Echo outside, blinking at the sunlight. It was early morning, around seven or so, judging by the sun, but the light was strong and it took a couple of seconds to adjust. She lead him past camp and the ship, a little deeper in the woods where they wouldn't be heard- presumably by their friends.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" He asked, looking at his girlfriend with a heavy heart.

He didn't want to break her heart or hurt her by telling her that he was in love with Clarke. It didn't seem fair, after all she had done for him in the six years past, but it also didn't feel fair to pretend to love her when he loved another. Bellamy hated crossroads, and he was definitely at one now. Unfortunately, he had a history of making bad decisions when things like this happened. 

"Bellamy," Echo said, pushing a few loose strands of dark brown hair behind her ear. She took a deep breath, and then looked him straight in the eye. For a minute, he though she was going to kiss him. Then she said, her voice as steady as a rock,

"I'm breaking up with you."

Well, that was certainly not what he'd been expecting.

"You're- what?"

The words didn't make sense.

"I'm breaking up with you, Bellamy,"

"But, why?"

She took another deep breath and looked at him with a gaze that clearly said, I think you know why.

"Because I know now what I think I've always known. I love you, Bellamy. And I know you love me too, but your heart belongs to another,"

Oh no.

"Echo...." He said, softly, unsure of what he was going to say.

"Bellamy, it's all right," Her voice was gentle, kind. It wasn't angry or hurt like he had expected. 

"But it's not!" His mother had raised him to be honest and good, whatever this situation was, it was neither of those.

"I'm so sorry. I feel like I lead you on, and that is wrong. I didn't know...I didn't-"

"You couldn't have known how everything was going to change. And you didn't lead me on, because I know you love me. You just love her more," 

"That's not right! After all we've been through, after all the times you were there for me..." 

She gave him a melancholy smile, and put a tender hand on his shoulder. 

"But you and Clarke share a bond that not even death could break. You've been through more with her than you ever could have expected from anyone. She's so important to you, Bellamy. I wish you would stop hiding from your feelings. It hurt you every day for six years, I'm not letting it hurt you again. Not now. Not when you have a chance to make this right,"

"Echo..."

But something had clicked inside of her, and she wasn't going to stop. 

"And I owed it to her! To Clarke to look after you. She sacrificed herself for us, or very nearly did, and that weighed so heavy on you. It was impossible not to see. Even when you pretended to be okay. I'm not Raven, but I was smart enough to figure out your mutual connection long before we went into space. I could never be her. No one can. And certainly no one can fill her space in your heart," 

She took a deep breath before continuing, but her words were laced with compassion.

"She's so good. She saved my life even though I had betrayed all of you, and hurt you in the past," 

"That's water under the bridge," He interrupted, his heart pulling in his chest. 

"Maybe now, but not then! So if I could repay a little bit of my debt to her by looking after and loving the person she loved most in this world, so be it. I love you, Bellamy. And because I love you, all I want for you is your happiness. She makes you happy in the way no one else could. I see it in the way you look at her, the lengths you'd go to save her, how much loosing her destroyed you. Now that you have her back, I know you'd do anything to keep her safe and loved. And she would for you too. She completes you, Bellamy. She makes you whole. Don't throw that away, you'll never find someone like her again."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"How are you so selfless?"

She smiled a bit, but it was genuine. 

"I'm not. You being happy makes me happy. It works out well for both sides,"

"I- " He stopped, taking in the magnitude of what she was doing for him.

"Thank you, Echo. Thank you so much," 

"You're welcome. But don't waste your chance,"

"I won't." He promised, and pulled her into a hug, that for now and forever more, would be completely platonic. 

They started to head back to the ship when something stopped them. It was a noise, loud and commanding, like hundreds of feet marching towards them. Like hundreds of feet marching towards them... Realization quickly dawned. 

"They've found us!" Echo hissed through her teeth. 

"Run!" Bellamy shouted, and they bolted back towards the camp at lightning speed. 

They emerged from the woods, panting and out of breath, startling Murphy from his post. 

"What's wrong?!" He exclaimed, noticing their looks of fear. 

"They've found us," Echo gasped, and Murphy shot up.

"What?! How?!" 

"I don't know. We need to take off. Now! Gather everyone- we have to go!" 

With a nod, all three split, and he sprinted to the concealed hut. 

"Clarke!" He gasped, throwing open the door.

"What is it?!" She bolted upright and immediately groaned in agony. 

"They've found us!" 

"What?!" She gasped in shock, "Wait, where's Madi?!" 

"I-" 

"Madi!" Clarke shouted, fear for her child taking over, "MADI!" 

Madi rushed in a second later, a look of white fear plastered on her face. 

"Clarke! What's wrong?!" 

"They're coming, Madi. We have to get out of here and I need you safe!"

"But-but you're not healed! You could rip open your stitching, I doubt you can even walk!" 

"I can manage, Madi. What matters now is getting out and getting that bunker open," 

"But, Clarke!" 

"I said I can manage, Madi!" 

Her outburst caused another ripple of hurt to flash across Madi's face. This time, with lasting effects. Gritting her teeth, Madi glared at her. 

"No. You can't. I know you think you can because you're 'Clarke Griffin the Invincible' or whatever, but you can't. You trained me to be a doctor, just like you, so I can help people who are hurt. But you won't let me help you. Ever. And I know you think you're trying to protect me, or keeping me safe from everything you went through. And I get that. I appreciate it. But don't think I didn't hear every word you said to him,"

She jerked her head at Bellamy, blue eyes steely cold, "When you thought I was asleep. You aren't as strong as you pretend to be. And if you're not going to let me help you, for whatever stupid reason, at least let him. You've relied on yourself enough." 

And with that, Madi turned around and stormed out of the hut. 

For what felt like hours, neither of them spoke, just looked at each other. Clarke's eyes were brimming with emotions, anger, sadness, and pain. Bellamy felt helpless against her gaze, and with everything that had happened in the last half hour, he felt like falling over. 

And then they heard the ship's thrusters start to fire up, and reality came flooding back. 

"Clarke," He started, softly, but she interrupted him with an agitated wave of her hand. 

"I'm fine, Bellamy," 

"Clarke-" 

"I said I'm fine!" She shouted and then immediately looked shocked by her own outburst. 

He smiled sadly, and looked at her, "Maybe one day you'll stop telling yourself that and give someone a chance to help you," 

Her pastel blue eyes flew open, clearly not expecting him to say that, but then they frosted over and flicked back down.

"Maybe," She let out a bitter laugh, and he had the sense that she was referring to something only she knew about. Yet another time he felt absolutely helpless in comforting her. 

Slowly, she pulled herself off of the table, and shakily placed her feet on the floor. Easing her self into a standing position, she stood up, grabbing the table for support. Clarke took a few shaky steps forward before stumbling and catching herself on the corner of the table. She looked so helpless, pale and sick, clearly dizzy. But he knew if he offered to help she'd just pull away again. These past six years had changed her, made her more reserved and guarded (if that was possible) even towards him. No. Especially towards him. 

She looked at him, biting her lip, as if forcing herself to swallow something bitter. 

"Can you...can you help me?" She asked, so timidly it was if she actually thought he would say no. 

"Of course," 

He let her grab onto his arm with her shaking hand, and take a few slow steps forward. They were moving too slowly, and he knew it, so when he heard Raven's cry of, 

"Bellamy, Clarke! We have to go!" 

He did the only thing he could. He dropped Clarke's arm, and picked her up bridal style, careful of her wound. 

"Bellamy!" She gasped in shock, "What are you doing?!" 

"Helping you." He grunted, and they took off towards the ship. 

Raven was waiting for them by the entrance and seemed to let out a sigh of relief when she saw them. 

"Oh thank god. You're here. Quick get strapped in, it's going to be a quick take off." 

Bellamy nodded and rushed inside, still holding a very shocked Clarke, but now she just looked a bit more disgruntled. 

"I can walk, you know," 

"And I can carry you. So stuff it," 

Instead of glaring at him, or giving a snappy retort, she did the one thing he definitely wasn't expecting. She laughed. And for a minute, all was good. And then there was Raven's voice shouting at them to get strapped in and they were back to reality again. 

Bellamy placed Clarke down in the chair nearest to Madi, who (as it appeared), was still not speaking to her. 

He watched Clarke try to give her a small smile, and the young nightblood turned up her face and look the other way. He couldn't help but notice how Clarke's smile melted off of her face in seconds. 

"Is everyone strapped in?!" Raven shouted, and there was a chorus of "Yes!" from everyone. 

"Okay...lift off in five...four...three...two...one!" She shouted, and perfect timing, for the second they were up in the air, McCreary and the rest of the prisoners appeared beneath them like a ghost from the forest. 

"Not a moment too soon," Monty breathed, and everyone had to agree with that. It was about damn time luck was on their side. 

Raven piloted the ship approximately in the direction of where Polis used to be, but then she turned to Clarke to ask the very obvious question,

"Can you get us there?" 

Slowly, Clarke nodded. 

"I think so," She listed off a set of coordinates from apparent memorization.

Raven nodded and punched them in. 

"We'll be there in 10 minutes. By then I should have found the biggest gun on that ship so we can blow the bunker door wide open," 

"Good." Said Bellamy, and that was the end. 

Then next ten minutes were silent and intense. Nobody moved, nobody spoke, there were just exchanged glances, silent prayers, and the soft clack of Raven's fingers on the keyboard. 

"I've got it!" She exclaimed, suddenly. 

"This should do it...okay, we're entering what used to be Polis..." 

Everyone (but Clarke and Madi) looked down and gasped at the sight before them. Polis was in ruins. Mountains of rubble piled around the broken city like a barricade. A thick layer of dust was caked over everything, and the few buildings that remained semi-standing, were shells of what they had once been. The whole city was a shell, a ghost town. 

"Oh my god..." Harper gasped, covering her hand with her mouth. 

Raven looked shocked for a moment, but then composed her self once more. 

"Clarke, can you point out where the bunker is under all this?" 

Clarke laughed, a bit bitterly. 

"Definitely. It's buried under the biggest pile of rubble here. Head to the center of the city. You're bound to see it," 

And see it they did. Like the crown jewel of the city of rubble, it protruded from the ground like a jagged spike, clearly formed from broken pieces of the tower. 

"Wow," Raven said, in a kind of awe, "That's a big heap of rubble," 

"Yeah," Clarke said, her voice tinted with memories, "Madi and I could never have uncovered it. It was stupid to even try." 

Bellamy looked up, curious. He hadn't known they'd tried to uncover the people trapped beneath it. Of course, it made sense now, she did have her mother trapped under there after all, but he hadn't really thought about it before. 

"Oh now you get that?!" Madi exclaimed, unable to keep in the sarcastic retort, "Tell that to my back. I think it died the first day we started!" 

That earned a chuckle from everybody, and Bellamy saw Clarke visibly relax. Madi loved her, as stubborn as she clearly was, she was bound to forgive her, no matter the deed. He knew that feeling well. 

"Well, boys and girls, get ready for a seriously big boom," Raven said.

She selected the weapon of choice, aimed it somewhere in the middle of the rubble mess, and pulled the trigger. With a giant boom and the crack of breaking rocks, the rubble surround the bunker blew apart, until all that was left was a hole.

Beneath which lay their friends and family. Everyone who they cared about who wasn't dead or currently with them was down there. But they had so much more to discover. And they weren't going to like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...6x11 was pretty good...Bob's directing was spectacular, and now Echo/Ash?? is a nightblood (Don't know how to feel about that), the Blake siblings had a chat (yayyy!!!_) , and Clarke is inside Sanctum posing as Josephine! Other than that...wasn't terribly impressed with the episode- mostly because it was coming down the from the amazing high of the end of the last ep- but it had some good moments. I didn't love it, but I definitely didn't dislike it either! I don't know much about how the story will play out (pls don't hurt Clarke!!), but I do know that the next ep, next two, really, are going to be AMAZING! Can't wait for next week!


	20. Reunions and Broken Hearts

The world around them shook. Every metal block or sheet vibrated as if struck like a harp chord. This was it, this was the end. Trapped and helpless beneath the earth, screams of terror sounded almost louder than the shaking earth.

Taziana gripped Ethan's arm tightly, grounding them to the spot.

If this is the end, I've lived a good life. Trapped, but good. She thought, and closed her eyes in acceptance.

"No! NO! Tazi!" She could barely hear Ethan's shouting over the shaking, but it was there all the same.

"Don't give up, please! We can't give up!"

She looked into his fearful eyes, hers somber and unchanging. The last two years had been hell for both of them. She could feel herself slipping farther and farther into the madness of Bloodreina and he was trying to pull her back. It was like grabbing at thin, fraying, strands of rope, while dangling over an infinite chasm, and he was the one holding them. At first there were many, but then they broke, and fell away until she was left with only a handful.

"We don't have a choice,"

His eyes sparkled with intensity, and in the one last moment before they were sure they were going to die, he pulled her in and kissed her.

It was hard and passionate, as if his mouth was looking for a last imprint of her to hold onto when he died. His soft lips smashed into hers, hardly giving her time to put two coherent thoughts together. He gave no sign of resolving to a quick kiss, and he deepened it so much she could hardly breathe. Ethan grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her in so that every curve of her body melded with his. Tazi could feel his heart beat through his chest, and she closed her eyes as tight as they could go, refusing to let the smooth flesh of their lips separate. If this was how she was going to die, it wasn't such a bad way to go.

"I love you," He whispered into their fused mouths.

There was so much they should've had time to do, should've said to each other, should have done with each other. So many promises left unkempt, so many things left unshared, but she had mere seconds left in her life so Tazi said the only thing she could while knowing it was the absolute truth.

"I love you, too,"

Tazi caressed his lips with her gentle breath and for a moment all was still.

And then she realized that it really was. The ground had stopped shaking. The walls weren't vibrating. They were alive. They were alive!

A weighted second passed and they remained in their tangled embrace, unsure of whether or not to let go.

Then the sky burst open and sun rays that had not been seen in over six years shone down on the bloodied, bruised, and broken members of Wonkru, like shimmering streams of gold. 

"We're saved," Tazi thought, her heart bursting with the fullness of the moment, barely holding herself steady warped in Ethan's arms, "We might actually be saved."

\---

The light shown down into darkness. A clash. Of good and bad, of joyous and desolate, of two worlds that were the true meaning of polar opposite. A hole in the ground was all that would remain of the bunker once the human ants and crawled out from under its skin.

Clarke stood alone in the empty hallway near the pilot room and stared out the window, down into the gaping mouth of earth. Her heart beat a hundred miles in her chest. Her mother, Octavia, Kane, Indra, Gaia, they were all down there. Waiting.

Instantly, a million questions flew through her head. If they were alive, why hadn't they escaped, or tried to make contact? What happened to them? Did the bunker trap them in? Were they...were they even alive?

Her friends were all in the adjacent room, deciding on the best approach to handle the bunker and the prisoners in the hold below. They hadn't even noticed when she had slipped out of the room.

"They don't need you anymore," A nasty voice in the back of her head prodded, "They don't even notice you anymore! Maybe you should have just kicked in back in the Lab. You wanted to."

"Shut up," Clarke said, and then upon realizing she had said it out loud, looked around to see if anyone heard. But no one was there. Again.

Suddenly, she heard quiet footsteps and felt Bellamy approach behind her. God, him. How was she ever going to be able to keep a train of thought while he was around?

Noticing the panicked look clearly evident on her face, Bellamy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"They're okay. We're going to get them out,"

Clarke nodded, swallowing the lump of panic caught in her throat.

Then, gazing into his warm chestnut eyes, she asked (more timidly than she ever wanted to sound), "Are you sure?"

"For sure." And a warm smile melted over his face like butter.

"Okay then," She took a deep breath. "I think Raven needs us,"

He nodded, and they made their way back into the adjacent room.

Once Raven saw them, she smiled and nodded.

"Good, Clarke's here," She said, and let out a quick breath before resuming her statement.

"Okay, well. Obviously we busted the Bunker clean open, but I don't think they have a way to get up, so we are going to have to go down there and get them. We have the equipment right here,"

She pointed to a stack of harnesses and other jumping/climbing/working materials, clearly pulled out of one of the wall containers.

"I can operate the belaying part from the control panel here. But I want two people to take a radio and go into the bunker together first. I know they were all our friends...but..."

"But a lot can change in six years," Murphy said, casting a meaningful glance at Clarke.

"Right," Said Raven, brushing right through the moment of somber silence about to ensue, "Which is why we need to send a scout team. Any volunteers?"

"Clarke and Bellamy can do it!" Came a bright voice from behind them. Madi, clearly forgotten in all of the hub bub.

Raven raised her eyebrow at the pair of them.

"How about it? Original leaders of the 100 at it again?"

Bellamy turned to Clarke and gave her a half smile, "You up for it, Princess? Ready for one more rescue mission- just like old times,"

"Of course I am," Clarke grinned at Bellamy, her heart feeling a little lighter than it had moments before, "Any time."

\---

Half an hour later after a long debriefing from Raven on how everything worked at what to do if it suddenly stopped working, Bellamy and Clarke were harnessed up and ready to go.

"You stay and do what Raven tells you," Clarke ordered Madi, to which the young nightblood rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah...whatever you say mom," Madi sassed, giving off her best annoying teenager attempt.

With Bellamy and Clarke safely strapped in, Clarke extra careful of her bullet wound but in seemingly good condition otherwise, Raven gave made sure everyone else was in their seats before initiating the countdown.

"Ready, Princess?" Bellamy asked, squeezing her hand.

"Yup!" Princes...oh, she was ready.

"5-4-3-2-1!" Raven shouted.

\---

It was the second scariest moment of her life. Second only to when they were first getting sent to the ground and she and the guard got into a fight. The floor dropped out from under them and they were sent downwards at a very controlled, but very fast pace.

"Relax, Clarke!" Bellamy called over the wind, as Clarke grabbed on to the metal rope so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"I. Am. Trying!!!" She shouted through gritted teeth.

She looked around at their surroundings for just one moment, decimated buildings and years of sun bleached dust and rubble. She knew the look well. And then in half a second, the world of sun and rubble disappeared, replaced with darkness. They were in the bunker.

Much had changed in the 6 years since Praimfaya. The bunker looked old and broken, and much to her horror, blood covered many a wall and floorboard. Not fresh blood (or at least, not most of it) but old blood dried crimson into the world around them.

And then she saw them. The people. Hundreds of people running into the room, all with sunken faces and broken eyes, but with a smile of shock that could have lit up the entire dark arena. Just as her feet touched the ground, she saw who was at the head of them all. Decked out in leather arm guards and a warrior's armor, with a currant red cloak flowing behind her, red paint adorning her forehead, was Octavia Blake.

Her feet touched the ground as she heard Bellamy whisper in shock, "O..."

They unclasped from the harnesses as fast as was humanly possible, and Bellamy sprinted over towards his sister and threw his arms around her.

"Oh my god," Octavia whispered breathlessly, "You're really here...you're really here..."

"I'm here, O," Clarke heard Bellamy whisper, "I'm right here."

Then Octavia noticed Clarke, and slowly broke away from Bellamy, stepping closer towards Clarke. Then, in a moment she could not have seen coming, Octavia hugged her. Her taunt arms wrapped around Clarke as she returned the embrace.

"I'm glad to see you, Clarke," Octavia said, her voice hardly above a whisper, "I've missed you,"

"I've missed you, too." Clarke said, and knew she truly meant it.

"Bloodreina," Came a girl's voice from behind them.

Octavia pulled away and then turned to face Bellamy, Clarke, and the girl.

"Yes. Bellamy, Clarke, this is Taziana. She is my second. Tazi, I have a feeling you know who they are,"

"Yes," The girl, Taziana, took a step closer to them, "You're Wanheda, and you...you're Bloodriena's brother...one of the sky people,"

Clarke and Bellamy both nodded.

"I've heard a lot about you," Taziana said, her eyes calculating.

Neither of them knew how to respond, so Clarke asked the question most present on her mind, "Where is my mom?"

"You mean Abby?" The girl said hesitantly, "She's-"

"Clarke!" A familiar voice interrupted, "Bellamy?"

"Kane?!" They both exclaimed at once.

They were enveloped in a warm hug, and when they pulled away, they noticed similar changes in Kane's face. His face was old ad weathered, eyes less fiery than before. Changed.

"What happened?" Clarke thought, and with a glance to Bellamy's face, she knew he was thinking the same thing.

"It's amazing to see both of you!" He exclaimed, clearly in shock, "Where are the others?"

"They're manning the ship up there. We have a lot to catch up on," Bellamy held up the radio, "When we've talked and gotten to connect a bit, we'll radio up to Raven and she'll start to get you all out of here,"

His words were met with a relieved gasp from anyone within hearing range, and it was clear the news was spreading like wildfire.

"Kane, she wants to see Abby," Taziana said, interrupting the reunion moment.

"She-she does?" Kane stuttered.

"Yes,"

"Well," He turned to Octavia, "Are you sure we should-"

"I think Clarke can decide for herself," Octavia stated, and that was the end of that.

"Can I see her?" Clarke asked impatiently, "Now, please?"

Octavia, Kane, and the younger girl, Taziana, all exchanged a look before Octavia nodded to Kane.

"Your mother is right this way," Kane spoke, his voice a gruff whisper. "Just, when you see her, don't judge her too harshly. You can't even begin to imagine what we've been through in the past six years. You know, while you all were in space,"

"She wasn't." Bellamy said, all of the sudden.

"What?" Kane looked confused.

"Clarke, she didn't go to space with us. She sacrificed herself for us,"

"Wait, Clarke, you did what?"

"It's a story for another time." Clarke said quickly, "And I promise to tell you everything. Once I see my mom."

"Well, that was a quick reunion," Clarke thought as Kane led them farther down the dim metal hallway. Bellamy hung back for a second, clearly unsure of whether or not to follow, but Clarke beckoned with her head and he hurried to catch up. Once they got to a thin metal door, Kane put his hand on the handle slowly.

"Promise not to judge her,"

"We promise," Clarke said quickly, anxious to see her mother, and Bellamy nodded.

Quietly, Kane pushed the door open and called out, "Abby?"

For a moment, there was silence, and then a hollow face with sunken cheeks and stringy grey-brown hair appeared.

"Mom?!" Clarke gasped in disbelief.

"Clarke?!" Abby's face lit up and she ran towards her daughter and wrapped her arms around her.

"Oh my baby, my baby girl, I've missed you so much," Abby cried, rocking her daughter back and forth.

"I've missed you too, mom," Clarke sniffled, crying lightly. But then she sniffed again, and smelt something odd, something like meds. No, not meds, drugs.

"Mom," She gasped, pulling away quickly.

"What is it, honey?" Abby asked, so overjoyed at seeing Clarke that she missed the very obvious warning signs.

"Are you doing drugs?"

Immediately the temperature in the room dropped. Abby's eyes became harder, more distant.

"It's none of your business, Clarke." She said with an unusually cool and lofty air.

"No! Mom! If you're doing drugs than of course it is my business! You're my mom!"

"You're right, I am your mother. Therefore you have to listen to me. If I say it's nothing than it's nothing!"

For a moment Clarke just stood there in shock, and then she turned on her heel and sprint-limped back down the hallway, Bellamy close behind. Her side was burning with pain but she didn't care. She couldn't care. Clarke twisted through the catacombs of hallways until she found a relativity undisturbed room, or so the layer of dust would lead anyone to believe. Bellamy jogged in a moment later, and as soon as Clarke saw him, she started to cry.

Silently, he went up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She sighed through tears and then wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself in close and nestling her head in his shoulder. God, he smelled good. Something inexplicable, yet warm and comforting all the same. Something so much better than her mom's drug ridden hug. The smell of medicine still hanging heavy like a cheap perfume in the air. She wanted to forget about the bunker with the blood, the empty shells of humans, and her mom being a drug addict. It was all too much to take in at once. For now, she could just focus of Bellamy,

"He smells like home," She thought with a flicker of a smile, trying to ignore the unkind nudge at the back of her skull.

"He's got a girlfriend, Clarke," She chastised herself. "You have to pretend your not...you know...in...love..."

But the stubborn part of her heart refused to let her pull away. So there she stayed, her face burrowed in his strong torso.

Clarke heard him laugh quietly and then put his head on top of hers, silently fingering with the short strands of hair.

"It's short," He breathed.

"Yeah," Her laugh was small and breathless, "Do you like it?"

"Oh yes," Bellamy smiled softly, and she could feel her heart melting a little bit. "I think it suits you. You're much more protective badass now. It fits."

"Yeah, probably much more than last time you saw me. A kid will do that to...Bellamy?"

He immediately dropped his hand from her hair, along with her heart.

Of course she had to screw up the moment. Of freaking course.

His eyes were tortured with sorrow, and much to her shock and dismay, when she gazed slowly upwards, she saw that there were tears in them.

"Oh my god, Bellamy. I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to-" But he cut her off with a fierce shake of his head.

"No, Clarke. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just..." Bellamy sighed then looked back up at her, "It's just you still being alive is a hell of a lot to take in. You know, I thought I'd be used to it now, seeing your stunning face everyday-"

"Bellamy," Clarke tried to interrupt. As much as her heart was longing for him to be hers, to kiss him just as fiercely as she'd always wanted, she couldn't. She couldn't do that to Echo.

"I mean it. Every time I look at you it's like seeing a ghost from the past. I so desperately want you to be real...I'm just afraid..." Bellamy's eyes were wide, his flushed lips on the brink of spilling whatever intense secret had been tormenting his mind for the past few days.

"You're afraid of what?" She asked, though petrified of the answer.

"I'm afraid that you're not real," Bellamy whispered, and the air dropped to -10 Degrees around them. All of the feeling flooded from Clarke's body.

"What did he mean? Afraid I'm not real?" Her mind was at war, trying to process his last words without giving any of her feelings away and while maintaining a straight face.

"I'm right here, Bellamy," She spoke softly, placing a gentle hand on his cheek.

"I know," His voice was so low it was almost nonexistent.

"I know, and I'm having so much trouble believing it...Clarke-I..." Bellamy hesitated for a moment and her heart skipped a beat in her chest. Or, more accurately, was jumping at insanely high speeds on a mountain and then fell of the ledge.

"Clarke, I- I-"

"Yes?" Clarke whispered, hardly daring to make a louder sound.

"I love you." 

Her. Heart. Stopped.

What had he just said? The "l" word? The one she had waited so long to hear from him? The one seemingly crushed out of existence when he showed up with a girlfriend made from the enemy of both of them, just in time to rescue her yet again?! How could he do this to her heart, to Echo's? Bellamy Blake was never a cruel man. Once upon a time he was a player, for sure, but she had come to believe that those times had passed a long time ago. And now? After everything that had just happened with her mom? What was he doing?

And then, to her immediate shock and horror, words that had spend so long trapped in her heart, encased in a cage of muscle and bone, broke free.

"I love you, too."

Instantaneously, a smile that could have spanned the earth lit up Bellamy's face like the light of two suns. But it was wrong! This was all wrong...Echo....

"Well..." He started to lean in slowly. With an electric shock Clarke realized what he was going to do. He was going to kiss her! Her lips tingled with the itch to slam themselves into his, soft flesh colliding, forming one. She could feel her head tilt sideways as she leaned in. Her heart did jumping jacks and crazy workouts in her throat. Running laps, jumping rope, doing curl ups (which was what her stomach was busy doing) all at once. They were so close she could see every freckle dotted on his olive skin like a constellation of stars. So close she could feel his warm breath softly tickling her face. So close if her toes pushed her a centimeter farther, she would collide with his mouth. So close...

But all of the sudden a sharp stab of conscience deep in her gut yanked her backwards.

"Echo. He has Echo. And you will not be some second hand replacement if they were in an argument you didn't know about, or if Bellamy just felt the need to cheat on his girlfriend for whatever idiotic, disloyal, reason," Her mind raged at her, "Just because he was the first person other than Madi and your mother, to tell you that they loved you since Lexa and Finn died, doesn't mean you are going to go weak in the knees for him. No. No matter how much you wanted it or longed for it, it's never gonna happen. And you will not be a pawn,"

"No." She said, her lips half a breath away from his.

"What?" He looked confused for a second, but didn't push towards her.

"I SAID NO, BELLAMY!" Clarke shouted, this time slamming her hands on his chest and pushing away.

He didn't even flinch.

"What's wrong, Clarke?" He asked, seeming genuinely alarmed.

"You! You're what's wrong!" She bit her lip, eyes searing with tears. "I-I can't do this!"

"Clarke!" Bellamy shouted in despair, "Please tell me what's wrong! What did I do? I'm so sorry for whatever it was!"

"NO! If you were sorry you never would have said you loved me!"

"You-" He started, but Clarke cut him off.

"And if you had never tried to kiss me! If you never had done any of this! If I never knew you!"

Bellamy looked stunned and hurt which only made her heart hurt more. Tearing herself away from the boy turned man she loved was like tearing herself in half. That's what they were. Children ripped from the chance to grow up and forced to make decisions that halved their souls. And here she was. Making yet another. Only this one hurt so much worse Mount Weather or the List. When she did that she had Bellamy by her side. Bellamy who comforted her. Bellamy who took leading and making the tough decisions on with her. Bellamy who put her broken pieces back together. The Bellamy whom she loved. It was like pulling her heart out of her chest without anesthesia. It was worse than any physical pain she ever felt. So, so much worse. And yet it had to be done. It had to be done to save herself from the inevitable pain of the future when he decided he wanted Echo back, and tossed her to the curb. That pain had to be much worse. It had to be. Tears poured down her face in unstoppable rivulets. The dimness of the bunker lights made everything swim in milky golden light. Her breath was hard to catch as she sobbed.

"You have a girlfriend, Bellamy! And I will not be your pawn!"

They both felt the years of trust, loyalty, and love, they had built up between them, crumble faster than dry dirt. Gone in an instant, with a few words and a lot of tears. The sound of two hearts breaking in unison could have been heard for miles.

"Clarke, you-you're not...you'd never be,"

"GO AWAY!" Clarke shouted through her tears, "God, just go away! I want...ugh! I wish-"

"You wish what, Clarke?!" Bellamy shouted, now getting heated as well. "What?! That I had never said all of those things, that I never became your co-leader, that we never...all of the decisions..."

Bellamy was crying now, tears of heartbreak and anger pouring down his cheeks. How it hurt her, in her very being, to tear him apart and then watch him fall. Nothing felt good, felt relieving. It felt horrible. Like she could never breathe again.

"You wish you had never told me to use my head and my heart and left you in Praimfaya, cause guess what, Clarke?! I DO, TOO!"

"No, Bellamy," Clarke muttered quietly.

"No, what?" He wiped the tears from his face with a harsh jerk of his sleeve.

"I don't wish I had never told you to use your head and your heart," Clarke gasped in pain as the next words tore them self out of her throat, stabbing daggers into every part of her along the way. She couldn't do this quietly. There had to be no room to move, no room to go back from it. She had to protect herself, to protect Madi from what would happen to her if Bellamy decided he didn't care about her anymore. After everything she'd been through, she had to cement the last block of pulling away. They didn't need her anymore, he didn't need her anymore. They could make it by themselves. So she cut the last string tying them together.

"I wish you died in Praimfaya."

For a moment, Bellamy looked to shocked to respond. Then every emotional for of pain and anger flickered across his face. He took a step backwards, like he'd been shot, and then gave her one last look of pure heartbreak, turned on his heel, and fled the room.

Clarke fell to the ground in anguish, as half of her soul was torn from her body. It hurt, but she deserved it. She deserved it all. It was her fault.

Between two halves of a human, both sobbing in pain, stood a metal door and a handful of dagger words. Broken in two, Bellamy and Clarke fell apart on the floor, their eyes wet until they couldn't cry anymore, their stomach a rope of knots, and their hearts severed in half, torn apart slowly so they could feel every strand snapping.

Sometimes broken hearts mend, and sometimes they don't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is as much as I have finished- should I write more? I'm not sure...

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's short and a bit bland- just testing the waters. Tell me if you like it!
> 
> A small note: Instead of POV's, I'm just going to tell it in 3rd person while noting if it is: On the Ground, On the Ark, or, In the Bunker. Yup- Wonkru coming up! I don't know how much of each, but I'll try to keep them even. Of course, things are going to get interesting when the Eligius Prisoners come down. *hehehe* Oh well, we'll see when we get there.


End file.
